Harmony Korine (“Spring Breakers”) is a polarizing filmmaker, to say the least. His movies are anything but conventional, and if one goes into one of his films with the wrong expectations, they run the risk of being severely disappointed. “The Beach Bum,” his latest film, is quite possibly his most lacking in story, providing a meandering ride around the Florida Keys, and it is amazing.
The movie follows hedonistic poet and writer Moondog (Matthew McConaughey, “White Boy Rick”). Moondog is said to have the potential to write the next great American novel, but he would rather drink PBR, smoke weed and sleep around, living a semi-nomadic lifestyle in the Florida Keys. But, when he is cut off from his wealthy wife’s inheritance, he is forced to find a way to finish his book.
Like any other Korine film, “The Beach Bum” works hard to push the limits of cinematic language. It feels like a fever dream, full of jump cuts that somehow feel fluid. Scenes drift in and out of each other. Any other filmmaker, when shooting a dialogue scene, would place the characters in one location, shoot a few angles of coverage and edit it into a typical shot-reverse shot. That is too boring for Korine. A perfectly linear conversation will happen in four different locations, cutting constantly from one to another, yet it is all shot, acted and edited so seamlessly that the viewer can hardly notice. This gives the film a feeling of heightened reality while keeping it very grounded at the same time.
Its unorthodox presentation makes the film feel like some kind of hazy recollection, which makes sense, as the events are presented to Moondog in a way that he would probably remember them. The movie could have easily felt like a series of vignettes in this character’s life, but Korine manages to weave it together into a cohesive experience.
People have complained about this film’s structure, or lack thereof. This is typical of Korine and very intentional. Real life does not have structure. Real life just happens, and that is the way Korine presents it. It feels like someone just followed Moondog around with a camera for a bit, and that is what the audience is watching. It makes for a very fresh and exciting cinematic experience.
It is hard to decipher what this film is trying to say, if anything. On the surface, it seems to glorify unchecked hedonism and pushes an almost immaturely nihilistic worldview, but there is more to it than that. Moondog is not a great guy; he does literally whatever he wants 100% of the time. But people love him for it, and he gets away with it all because he is able to create art out of it. This may be reflective of Korine’s own experiences. He achieved great artistic success when he was only 19 and went on to struggle with drug abuse and destructive behavior. But he continued to make movies that people loved.
“The Beach Bum” shows that Korine is still as creative and revolutionary a filmmaker as he was in the late ’90s. This movie is definitely not for everyone, and if it is a solid story or structure that tickles the fancy, then people might be better off waiting to watch this on streaming. But, for the efforts it makes to break cinema out of a now century-old form, it deserves all the praise, as Korine is one of the only mainstream filmmakers who is really experimenting with form. He is an anomaly, and we are extremely lucky to have him.
