Spring Breakers Review
RYAN: I was primarily excited to see Spring Breakers because of James Franco who’s one of my favorite actors by default since he’s now the wizard of Oz.
CAROLINE: I too was excited and intrigued, largely because of all the hype. I feel like we’ve been seeing pictures of those 4 girls in bikinis since last summer. And of course, everyone’s talking about how it’s such a dramatic 180 for Disney stars Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens.
RYAN: I’m not buying into the controversy. These girls are actresses and they can take on whatever roles they want. As far as the whole Disney role model thing, whether they were in this film or not, it’s an R-rated movie that shouldn’t be seen by young people. This is why we have ratings, y’all.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ I’m almost surprised this movie got away with an R rating. It’s incredibly violent and sexual and gets really, really dark by the end. Having said that, I really enjoyed it.
RYAN: I did not. I don’t know if I’m just desensitized, but I felt like this movie was trying so hard to be edgy as opposed to actually being edgy. It’s presented in a very non-linear way and edited such that the whole thing seemed like a blur.
CAROLINE: I guess I hear you, but for some reason it totally worked for me. This movie is from directory Harmony Korine, who’s probably most famous for writing Kids. I haven’t seen his other films because they seemed too out there for me, but something about the Spring Breakers trailer appealed to me. It’s definitely not for everyone though.
RYAN: Vanessa Hudgens is like Julianne Hough to me; pretty, but can’t act. But Selena Gomez has at least one really good moment in this movie.
CAROLINE: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person with such a small space between her upper lip and nose than Selena Gomez. It bothered me for the whole movie.
RYAN: [laughs’ Really? I think she’s super cute.
CAROLINE: She’s cute-ish, and I liked her character in that she was sort of the moral compass for the film.
RYAN: James Franco really blew me away in this movie. I don’t often think of him as a character actor, but he completely disappeared into this role; and it wasn’t just because of the hair and the grill.
CAROLINE: He was truly incredible. This was a great role for him and I have a new appreciation for him after seeing this.
RYAN: LBH, we’ve loved him since 127 Hours.
CAROLINE: I remember loving him Pineapple Express too. He’s actually quite a good actor. This movie as a whole though has so much to be appalled by. I mean, those opening shots of the girls on spring break? Beyond gratuitous, but definitely appropriate for the topic of this film.
RYAN: As a parent, how freaked out did this movie make you?
CAROLINE: I know, right? It makes you look at all these cute girls who are wasted and basically naked on the beach and wonder what their parents would think. I heard that the director shot real kids on spring break for a lot of those party scenes. So we know a lot of this crazy stuff really goes down; but hopefully minus the gun play.
RYAN: In many ways, it’s a lot like MTV’s Spring Break but with drugs and murder.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ Indeed.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: I wasn’t that impressed by this movie. It felt like it was trying too hard and I just wasn’t that into it. I also never adjusted to its erratic editing and repetitive voice over. So although I was mostly annoyed by it, looking back on it, I like it more now than I did whilst watching it; but it’s not my favorite pic of this sort of shock/teen flick genre.
CAROLINE: Fair enough. I, on the other hand, very much enjoyed it even though I found it very disturbing in parts. James Franco is awesome and I just got totally lost in this crazy world. I enjoyed the repetitive voice over and general creepiness going throughout the movie. It’s a hard R for sure though – no one under 18 should be seeing this.
