Gomez, Hudgens star in provocative film about dark side of weeklong vacation
Normally, spring break films are just a starting point for comedies and romance, sometimes both at the same time. They’re the type of films that thrive on the guy-meets-girl storyline (just look at the atrocious “From Justin to Kelly”). They also always seem to emphasize the “fun” factor in the situation.
However, “Spring Breakers” centers on the most hedonistic moment for college students, as many have, but in a different and unexpected fashion. Director Harmoney Korine begins the film in a manner that’s expected: beach shots with sunsets and scenes of a 24/7 party lifestyle. But once the story actually develops, the film goes down a much darker road, revealing itself as a serious film with a serious message.
Faith (Gomez), Candy (Hudgens), Brit (Benson) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) want to spend the whole week together in Florida for spring break but don’t have enough money. Faith is the good girl of the group, but the other three are so rotten to the core that it’s frightening. They have no understanding of consequences, and they rob a restaurant with water guns and a sledgehammer to fund their spring break trip.
Things get especially interesting when the girls are forced to appear before the court (in their bikinis, no less), but are bailed out by gangster drug dealer Alien (James Franco). His money, drugs and criminal lifestyle quickly make a favorable impression on all the girls, except for Faith, and the film heads to a much darker place.
“Spring Breakers” isn’t a light, breezy film for those expecting to be titillated by scantily-clad girls partying. Though titillation is the hook, the material is dark, with Korine favoring artistic integrity over mainstream fare.
Korine’s key stylistic element in “Spring Breakers” is his penchant for repetition. Many of the lines are spoken more than once, and some are repeated up to six times. It might seem like Korine is repeating stuff unnecessarily, but it all comes together when Faith talks about how seeing and experiencing the same things on a daily basis is boring and depressing.
The movie actually works better when no lines are being said at all. Korine’s neon-bright imagery syncs well with the meticulous electronic music composed in part by Skrillex. Some scenes seem to nod at Britney Spears as a patron of sexualized teenyboppers, but they feel more inept than anything.
Much of the publicity surrounding “Breakers” involves the casting of former teenage icons Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson. They’ve reached the point in their careers where they want to broaden their horizons, and what better way to do so than to star in a film where they spend much of their time bikini-clad and promiscuous? While all the promiscuity and bad decision-making does keep the movie interesting, it does nothing to keep the characters interesting.
Gomez’s Faith, believe it or not, is actually the most well-rounded character and has the closest thing to a backstory. She’s a devout Christian who’s fiercely loyal to her grandmother but becomes torn between her prayer circles and her desire to party hard with the girls she has known since childhood.
Not surprisingly though, her character doesn’t stretch as far as the other girls. We never see her curse or take her clothing off, and she departs before things get incredibly out-of-control. She’s a good Christian girl who has a moment of rebellion, but stops when things go beyond her comfort zone.
Hudgens and Benson, on the other hand, swear like truckers, engage in all sorts of drinking and explicit activities and even have a peek-a-boo threeway with Franco in a pool.
And Franco’s preformance, as weird as it is, is a standout. Still, it’s hard to be mesmerized by the sight of Alien bouncing up and down on his bed among his money, guns and drugs while yelling, “Look at my stuff.” It’s equally as horrifying as it is hilarious.
“Spring Breakers” doesn’t glorify spring break in any way, but it does challenge us to consider that weeklong annual ritual a little longer. It’s dark, funny and provocative.