Spring Breakers
The expression of “friendships last a lifetime” is something that is often misinterpreted. What I claim is that the life of people change, and therefore their lifetime can become altered based on their destiny. The most changing that I’ve experienced is the college years. This is a time of more personal freedom and discovery. This is also the time of deciding what is more important; your business life or your social life. I think what surprises most students at first is that even with more time to relax, they would rather concentrate on their studies. I spent countless afternoons in my dorm reading up on my assignments rather then attending the rush weeks of fraternities. Maybe if I would have gone, I would have loosened up more.
I think what turned me away from the Greek life was the constant image of binge drinking and property destruction. It was not until my junior year when I found out that the picture in my mind was just a stereotype. I wish I would have seen it sooner, but I don’t regret my choices. I choose to be a studier and wanted to stay away from the darker image of stupidity within college. These years are about choices, and Spring Breakers is about students that make choices, but don’t end up with the best results.
Everybody is looking tired. The midterms are over and it’s time to take that anticipated spring break. Faith (played by Selena Gomez) has plans to join her friends to some fun and partying in Florida. Upon getting their cash together, they are too short handed and take their vacation desires to the extreme. Candy (played by Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (played by Ashley Benson) and Cotty (played by Rachel Korine) rob a fast food restaurant and quickly celebrate their victory with a visit to the hardest parties, trippiest drugs and most gangster rap concerts I’ve seen for a spring break.
It is during the hardest of their parties that they forget about the stress of college and consider staying forever. It’s not until an arrest when they see the part can’t last forever…or can it? They are bailed out by a rapper/drug dealer named Alien (played by James Franco). He represents the gangster Peter Pan as he’s a man who refuses to grow up and keep spring break going forever. He persuades the girls to join him on his robberies and lifestyle. It is here where they start too see reality sinking back in and make the right choices.
If your expecting a typical college comedy, let me stop you right here. What I have witnessed out of Spring Breakers is an art-house, almost abstract movie. There is even barley a story. What is here is more of an experience. I feel like that I had just dived into a party that becomes louder and dimmer by the passing minute. Everything is more colorful and brighter then the neon in Vegas. The drugs bring out the ugliest of visuals and sounds. It is because of this that I have a lot of respect and phrase.
The best way to describe this movie is thinking about the style of a Terrence Malick film and putting it into a college road trip story. But it’s not just the imagery that stands out. James Franco puts everything into his Alien character. He’s not just scary, but he’s persuasive. I can see why the real life actresses were frightened to hang around him. Speaking of which, they all do well (especially Selena Gomez) playing these students that think that time will stop, but eventually succumb to that fact that life moves on.
I’ll give this five pink ski masks out of five. This is the movie that Project X should have been; a movie about hard partying with a great soundtrack that at least amounts to something.