8.5/10
This is a movie with a ludicrous premise, a ludicrous existence even, and naturally it's a ludicrous movie. Too weird to live, yet here it is. It's almost too easy to give this movie a positive review out of sheer autoresponse - a movie like this can only be a big inside joke, right? And no audience member wants to feel like they're not in on it, so I better say I liked it.
Well, not entirely. Indeed, I'll allow for the fact that this may just be Korine having a big laugh at everyone - the studios who spent money on it, the actors who think they're in something genuinely subversive, the audience who tries to find a deep meaning to it...all the way to the bank to finance his next project about old people humping trash. But I think if Korine's movies to date have displayed any consistency, it's his fascination with America (Americana?). If his scripts for Kids and Gummo explore America's suburban and rural near-retardation, isn't Spring Breakers just the other extreme of an identical exploration? There is a bit more plot to Breakers, although it's still pretty flimsy, and a lot more style (the neverending soundtrack is excellent). While the four girls are barely given a shade of personality, James Franco steals the show as the hip hop/gangster/savior/alien Alien. There's a scene involving Franco, the girls, and a brilliantly selected Britney Spears track that any other movie this year will be hard-pressed to top.
Say nothing else about Korine, he supplies indelible, twisted images in all of his films, but it's never been as much fun to watch as it is here. Even if it's more parody or pastiche than biting critique or commentary, it's a blast and needs to be seen to be believed.
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