The Beach Bum

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🎙️ EPISODE 436: 04.04.22 W冢h †hê VïÐêð Vêr§ïðñ BELOW Harmony Korine is one of those directors, those auteurs who I have — before this project — fully neglected. I saw Kids and had a somewhat unhealthy attraction to it at a young age (as I'm sure many other "kids" did, that seeming to be the point) but that was really the beginning and end of my experience with his movies (and he only wrote that one; he did not direct it). This is, of course, purely unintentional. It's not for some newfound good taste acquired in the aging process. I just haven't gotten around to watching any of it, from Gummo to Spring Breakers. What's even more odd is that I have been fascinated by Korine as a person for the duration. I've watched countless interviews on YouTube and every one of his Letterman appearances multiple times. I am, essentially, a fan of his, and my lack of actually, you know, watching his films has been nothing more than an oversight in my esteemed opinion (and what else matters?).

I felt the need to preface this review with that information because The Beach Bum was my entry point into the Korine oeuvre and I have no clue how it stacks up against anything else as I write this. I've decided to watch his filmography in reverse chronological order for some reason, and this is my choice. That being said, The Beach Bum is BONKERS. I felt like I knew it would be crazy going in and it was somehow even more so: more cosmically disjointed, more lacking anything close to traditional ideas of morality, more.... just MORE. I'm too old to know what the young folk mean when they say something is "extra" (speaking of kids, haha) but that's how I would describe this. It's an assault on the senses and, perhaps most surprisingly: thematically rich on multiple levels. I enjoyed it quite a bit. This movie is like a joke on you for watching it, but it's not completely void of deeper meaning. Obviously, it's a rumination about how America is ruined, doomed, what have you. But it's also about the lie of male genius, even if Matthew McConaughey is wearing women's clothing exclusively by the end of it.

McConaughey is great in this; he pops on the screen in a way I knew he would. But its a more purposeful performance than I would have ever guessed, and credit Korine for this as well. The emotional parts, however insane they might seem juxtaposed with the ludicrous action of the plot, are true and feel real. The cutting cultural criticism felt relevant too. And the fleeting nature of both of these elements felt all the more important in a film where we see Martin Lawrence getting his foot bitten off by a shark and Matthew McConaughey trading said detached foot for his cheesy captain's hat as he's being hauled away in an ambulance.

But the biggest lie of all is that the poet wins in the end. In Harmony Korine's world this is true. Morality? That's questionable, a matter of opinion. But art? ART? Art is all you really need to survive and it will ultimately pay off for you. The bad things don't happen because people like The Beach Bum exist in the world; it's the world that's the problem. This is not how the real world works, but damn it would be cool if it did.

ｐａｒｔ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ ＲＡＮＫＩＮＧ • ＨＡＲＭＯＮＹ • ＫＯＲＩＮＥ ｓｅｒｉｅｓ

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 435 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 437 ⫸

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The Beach Bum is a 2019 American stoner comedy film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Jimmy Buffett, with Zac Efron and Martin Lawrence. The plot follows the adventures of stoner poet Moondog (McConaughey) in and around the Florida Keys as he tries to finish his new novel for the respect of his daughter and his share of his wife's estate.It was released on March 9, 2019.