Spring Breakers

If the energizer bunny directed a movie, played the lead character, consumed a ton of alcohol while having sex, partying, and robbing, the final product would feel something similar to Spring Breakers, a movie which goes from 0 to 90 within seconds.

What's up? Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine play the lead partiers who after getting in trouble with the law, are bailed out by a mysterious unknown man named Alien (James Franco). To say Alien has a few tricks up his sleeves and skeletons in his closet is an understatement as the girls get dragged down into an area of "the good life" that they had never imagined themselves in before.

What's good? Whoever did the cinematography for Spring Breakers deserves a high five. Generally when someone would describe a movie as having a similar look to a music video I would be turned off but that type of surreal, colorful, dream-like look works well with the unusual, unorthodox strange world that these characters are put into. Looking unreal has never looked so good.

This is easily one of James Franco's best performances to date, easily making his bland turn in Oz forgivable. Funny that the two characters have that scheming, dishonest leadership attribute in both movies yet Franco is giving it his all in this one as opposed to Oz where his portrayal felt terribly phoned in and lazy. Whether he's thugging or singing a Brittany Spears' song, Franco is in it to win it. The four girls aren't given a ton to do, but they do it well. It's a shame that the one that makes the most impression (Selena Gomez as Faith) bones out early just before things get even crazier.

I also admired the weird lovechild of Scared Straight and Girls Gone Wild that Spring Breakers emulates. It's like the world's most colorful and violent lesson about avoiding the dark side, staying in school, not riding with strangers or getting into gunfights with their enemies. Somewhere a parent's secretly thanking Spring Breakers for not beautifying the bum life.

What the fuck? As wild as Spring Breakers gets, at times I wish it did a bit more with the material. I found it quite original and entertaining to watch but after a while Spring Breakers seems to feel quite complacent with itself, not pushing the limits and instead coasting on what the film had previously set up for the viewers. Luckily soon after Spring Breakers makes you wonder when it's going to end, it actually DOES END. I just wish at times that it had taken as many risks throughout as opposed to setting them all up in the beginning.

Overall Spring Breakers is a fun ride that certainly won't be winning any awards but it's a colorful, funny, and fresh film that leaves an impression and also gives James Franco cool points and a half for going as far out of his norm as he did in this movie.

3/4