Review: The Beach Bum (2019)

The Beach Bum (2019)

Alright, alright, alright.

If there is one filmmaker that might unleash Matthew McConaughey in going full-out... Matthew McConaughey, that person has to be Harmony Korine. From start to finish, The Beach Bum might act as a sort of view into what the actor's pre-McConaissance life may have looked at when he lived his much-discussed, high-falutin partying lifestyle. This film, in all regards, really is a party. An alternate name for it may have been FUBAR, however, that is already taken by a Canadian indie-gem (which, everyone should check out if you haven't already seen it).

The Beach Bum is no-doubt an entertaining film and you can see that in all of the cast who clearly had a great time making it. The question though is whether there is much more to the film than the base entertainment value of seeing Moondog (McConaughey) and his cohorts (which include, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dog, Zac Efron, Jonah Hill and, perhaps fittingly, Jimmy Buffet) partying it up, having copious amounts of sex, and ingesting an absurd amount of pot, booze and other illicits. Moondog is the ultimate hedonist and one whose ideology is simply to have fun and let all stresses in life roll easily off his shoulders. He, like most of the other characters, are very much caricatures, but though they are seen living in our world, they clearly operate on another level.

The film in some ways develops as a coming of age story for Moondog. However, even when major events happen in the life of Moondog, the assumedly impactful consequences that entail unfortunately have no lasting impact. For me, the result of this was that the film itself, like Moondog's experiences, had no tangible lasting impact or profoundness. At the end of the day though, perhaps that was Korine's intention all along. In interviews he has intimated that the film is somewhat of a response to the 2016 election - that yes, the country may be falling apart, but that doesn't mean we can't still get insanely high and have a good time. And, if that's the case, then the film does succeed - if you simply want to have a good time and not much more than The Beach Bum is for you.

Comments

Review: How to With John Wilson (Season 1)

How to With John Wilson (Season 1) TLDR: It's hard to describe exactly what How To is or why exactly it works, but there's a certain point in every episode when the comedy begins to click and then the human element - the surprising poignancy and the everyman/woman relatability - comes out in spades. This documentary series is unlike anything else out there and absolutely worth your time. Who exactly is John Wilson? That's the first question that comes to mind when HBO's new documentary series is recommended to a new viewer. The name is in the show's title, and yet John Wilson is rather a nobody in the grand scheme of things as well as in the entertainment industry (at least he was prior to the becoming a bonafide hit). However, not long ago, contemporary comedy icon Nathan Fielder discovered Wilson and, after seeing his work and style, decided to jump on board as a producer for a new series made by Wilson. So, again, what exactly is this show? Well, each episode of...

Review: Soul (2020)

Soul (2020) TLDR: For a year where many may feel like they have lost a little piece of their own, Soul has arrived to remind us all what's most important in life. This is a Pixar film that is arguably more important for adults to watch than kids: it is beautiful - in both story and art, it is quirky, it is heartfelt and, as these trying times endlessly push on, it reminds us that there is still a lot of good in this world to enjoy and reflect upon. Note: some spoilers below. It takes a little bit of time to ease into Disney/Pixar's Soul. Though the film starts out in a lush and beautifully rendered NYC filled with delightful jazz music as we follow Joe around his everyday boroughs, things very quickly run astray. Suddenly, we are thrown into an abstract world filled with Picasso-like wiry characters and massively heady existential concepts like 'where do we come from', 'the great beyond', and much more. If it's not immediately apparent, it soon becomes clea...

Review: The New Mutants (2020)

The New Mutants (2020) TLDR: A sad, dismal final chapter in Fox's once-acclaimed X-Men saga. The New Mutants shows promise in fragments, but its poor script and plot and often awkward execution makes for a sickly overall package that is quite fitting for this equally-sickly year that it has finally been released in... The New Mutants were an alt-X-Men team created in the early 80's in an effort to revamp and re-contemporize a new team of teenage X-Men. The new series became a smash-hit with new star mutants like Magik, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and Mirage, all of whom continue to headline Marvel comics to this day. Josh Boone's The New Mutants, which was announced more than five years ago and shot in 2017, has finally seen the light of day in 2020... The film seeks to adapt the team's beloved 'Demon Bear' storyline, while introducing audiences to this fresh team of mutant superheroes. In doing so, Boone tries to create an omelet-homage from the likes of Ste...

Mike Goes To Movies

Search This Blog