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“The Beach Bum” by Harmony Korine is similar to going to a restaurant and seeing a list of ingredients for a dish that then tastes exactly like you expect it to taste. In the event that you’re thinking, “I know what this is; it’s Matthew McConaughey as a carefree pothead poet who wanders the Florida coast from the director of “Spring Breakers,” then you’re not wrong. In spite of this, the film’s shaggy dog quality, which mirrors its protagonist’s never-ending belief that everything will just be alright, alright, becomes almost transcendent. In his introduction to the film, Korine stated that he had created a film that was a response to what happened in 2016, in the sense that it is about how we are all striving to find that “bliss moment” more and more. Yes, the world is in shambles, but let’s get high with Snoop Dogg and Jimmy Buffett and enjoy ourselves while we still have the opportunity. And while that may not seem like enough to support a feature film, “The Beach Bum” succeeds because it never loses its tonal statement that all that really matters is what matters to you… man, which is everything.
The jerk may be annoying, but he’s a wonderful person. ‘This line, said by his daughter Heather (Stefania LaVie Owen), pretty much summarizes Matthew McConaughey’s Moondog, a man semi-famous for his published works of poetry and locally famous as one of those personalities about whom everyone in Key West has a story and with whom almost everyone has either gotten high or had sex.’ When he’s not stoned, you can find him semi-naked most of the time, and he doesn’t seem to give a damn about the rest of the world. He prefers to sleep on the beach, on a pier, or in the mansion he shares with his wife Minnie (Isla Fisher). She is extremely wealthy and resides on the California coast, where she enjoys the company of a rapper by the name of Lingerie (Snoop Dogg). When Moondog and Minnie are together for Heather’s wedding, the first major event in “The Beach Bum,” it would be an understatement to say that they have an open relationship. But they love each other and the sex is fantastic when they’re together, as they are for Heather’s wedding, the first major event in the novel.
I won’t give anything away about where Harmony Korine’s film goes from there, but let’s just say that Moondog is thrown out of his comfort zone and sent on a journey to rediscover himself and his family. A modern-day stoner version of The Odyssey is created, with the epic hero reimagined as a stoner who meets a variety of crazy characters on his journey home, including Jonah Hill’s caricature of a southerner, Martin Lawrence’s extremely amusing dolphin tour guide, and Zac Efron’s sociopathic rehab roommate. Moondog maintains his cool throughout, despite the fact that he appears to be under legitimate threat of violence and legal action. Moondog will be successful in every endeavor. It always does, doesn’t it?
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this The Beach Bum quiz.
McConaughey embraces his bongo-playing persona in a way that some may dismiss as clumsy, but he actually delivers a pretty good performance in this film. Moondog is, in fact, a jerk, as his daughter has pointed out. That one friend we all have who needs to be in just the right mood to go out with us on a Saturday night, and he’s the one. While it would be an understatement to say that he lacks social decorum, he also has a big heart and cares deeply about the people in his life. He won’t make your life better, but he will get you high enough that you won’t care about it anymore, and McConaughey does an excellent job of keeping a character from becoming overly abrasive and annoying by maintaining a delicate balance. Helping matters is that he’s surrounded by actors who appear to completely grasp what Korine is trying to accomplish with this film, which frequently feels like a 95-minute party at one of Snoop Dogg’s mansions.
The Beach Bum Quiz
Despite this, there are times when “The Beach Bum” goes above and beyond the description. Korine’s visual abilities are on full display in this film, which captures both the opulence of Florida and its seedy side in a way that finds beauty in both. Undeniably, he uses music brilliantly in this film, finding the right song for every occasion with an odd blend of everything from Van Morrison to The Cure (twice! ), to Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is,” which plays in its entirety in a fantastic scene in which Moondog and Minnie sing and dance along to it. The themes of this funny, ultimately heartwarming film are perfectly encapsulated in the song. We’ve seen a slew of films this year that are depressed about the state of the world today. When we see one, we are reminded that “if this is all there is, then let’s keep dancing.” There is something inspiring about them.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Beach Bum quiz.
This review was submitted on March 10th from the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
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