THE BEACH BUM
FILM OUT 25 OCTOBER SELECTED CINEMAS 30 OCTOBER DIGITAL HD 18
Could Harmony Korine’s latest joint jump-start the recently stalled McConaissance? At times intoxicating, at others exasperating, this rambling tale of a perma-baked poet living a bong-and-boozesoaked existence in Florida is held together by its star, whose laidback charm somehow gets us onside with a pretty reprehensible character.
It’s a sly self-referential turn, opening with an apparent nod to the star’s most famous off-set episode. As Moondog, Matthew McConaughey howls, stumbles, and wheeze-laughs through sequences of excess, yet Korine undercuts the revelry with a bittersweet end-of-theparty vibe – before and after the tragic turning point. A chance for Moondog to learn a few life lessons? Not at all. Rehab is just an opportunity to abscond with Zac Efron’s vapid, vaping rich kid, with whom he robs an OAP on a mobility scooter.
If scenes like these suggest Korine is trying to say something about the consequence-free debauchery of the mega-wealthy, elsewhere he seems content to join the party. It’s a film of contrasts: misjudged lurches into broad stoner comedy rub shoulders with moments of woozy tenderness, while DoP Benoît Debie juxtaposes gorgeous, magic-hour skies against Moondog’s increasingly gaudy wardrobe.
McConaughey anchors the chaos, offering the closest we get to a mission statement, “I just wanna have a good time until this shit’s over.” Perhaps this is Korine’s way of saying he isn’t ready to grow up just yet, either. Chris Schilling