The Film
If you're at all familiar with Harmony Korine's 1995 film Kids, you should know that the director doesn't shy away from showing young people in compromising positions. That's Spring Breakers in a nutshell.
It follows childhood friends Faith (Selena Gomez), Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), and Cotty (Rachel Korine), who are all so incredibly bored with college life, they need a little R&R. Spring break is conveniently right around the corner, but the quartet doesn't have the funds to make that dream a reality. After all, drugs aren't cheap, kids, and today's woman has her priorities. So instead of getting part-time jobs or even hitting up their parents, they decide to steal a car, rob a diner, and torch said car.
These girls have balls, severe potty-mouths and very little remorse. (Well, Faith does have a little.) Once in "paradise," they proceed to drink themselves stupid, pee in the street, ride mopeds, do even more drugs, and scream -- a lot and at pretty much everything. Apparently, it feels good to be a gangster.
However, it's all drunken fun until the four get arrested. This is where they manage to catch the eye and bail money of Alien (James Franco), who is part rapper, part drug dealer, and complete low life. It's also where the movie takes an interesting turn.
If you've come to see Disney girls gone wild, that whole thing has been a bit overhyped. There are plenty of boobies to be had, but none belong to Miss Gomez or Miss Hudgens. (Mrs. Korine, on the other hand, shows plenty.) That said, the real show here is Franco, who delivers his most bizarre role to date -- even more so than Your Highness or his recurring role on TV's General Hospital.
Like he did with Kids, Korine is making a pretty bold statement about today's youth here. It's also a pretty disturbing statement. Some audiences will find it artistic, while others will see Spring Breakers as an exploitative shit-show. It's a bit of both and exactly how Korine wants it to be. Franco pretty much steals the show, but Spring Breakers is filled with rapid-fire imagery and delivers an overall hazy feeling. Expect to walk away with a bit of a contact high from the whole thing.
The Picture
Right from the opening, this 2.40:1 image has some interesting imagery -- and I'm not just talking about all of the nudity, jiggling and tanned skin. At times, the image is soft and sort of hard to make out. It's part of the film's grungy style, which is exactly what the director wants here. Otherwise, Spring Breakers is bursting with colorful bikinis, sunkissed skintones, and other vibrant colors. It's not exactly demo material, but it's an intriguing viewing experience overall.
The Sound
This is the first Lionsgate title that I've seen in a while that did not get a 7.1 track. However, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix still manages to pack a punch when needed. There's a ton of bass-bumping music and gunfire. There's also some very low dialogue throughout, so you may find yourself reaching for the remote on occasion.
The Extras
Final Thoughts
On the surface, Spring Breakers looks like "Girls Gone Wild: Disney Edition." However, writer/director Harmony Korine makes another interesting, extremely disturbing statement about today's youth. The end result is a film you'll either love or hate. It's a bit of a tough sell, but this Blu-ray package seems to help a bit. A nice collection of extras and a killer (literally) performance by James Franco make this an interesting purchase.
Product Details
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