Spring Breakers: Girls gone wild (and violent)

This is the kind of movie you either love or hate. We hated it. Not sure who had the bright idea of handing art house auteur and all-around weirdo Harmony Korine (Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy) the reins to a film about a group of hot girls on spring break. A lot like Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh’s arty male stripper movie (that we also had a hard time appreciating), Spring Breakers features plenty of “T&A,” but the somber story about a group of teens who rob a diner so that they can afford a trip to Florida is likely to bring you down.

Once they arrive in Florida, the college kids (played by Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine) quickly befriend Alien (James Franco), a dreadlocked gangsta who has collected quite a stash of guns and ammo in preparation for a showdown with gang rival Archie (Gucci Mane). Sensing nothing good can come of hanging out with Alien and his gangster friends, Faith (Gomez) takes the first bus back home. But the other girls stick around and revel in getting in trouble (wearing nothing but skimpy bikinis). With his gold teeth and tattoos, Alien is more caricature than character and Franco really hams it up, reciting his poetry and repeating the phrase “spring break, y’all” over and over as if he’s in some kind of strange trance.

Visually striking, the ultra-violent film comes off as Natural Born Killers with college kids. Korine at least deserves some credit for avoiding the predictable happy ending, and Skrillex’s score of ricocheting dubstep beats is truly riveting. But the relentless pursuit of sex and drugs is ultimately off-putting and, with the exception of the aptly named Faith, there’s not a single character with a conscience. The film revels so much in shock value that its tragic ending doesn’t elicit any real sympathy.