A Refreshingly Odd Cult Hit

By Michelle Montgomery

“Spring Breakers” follows four college students, aptly named Faith (Salina Gomez), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) as they head to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break where the only song and dance number is a drunken “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” As the opening sequence of choreographed boobs and beer bongs implies, this is not your Club MTV / Pauli Shore Spring Break. Most of the sequences in the film are dreamlike as we are introduced to a post Joe Francis apocalypse, where threesomes have been traded in for an orgasmic form of Russian roulette.

Initially the girls don’t have enough money to go on the trip, so they steal a car and rob a fried chicken establishment. To alleviate their pre-crime fears the girls recite, “It’s just like in the movies, it just like a video game.” They end up warping past several levels to Aliens (James Franco) Castle, where the only way out is through firepower. James Franco, who could have easily gone the Ryan Philippe or Ryan Reynolds route with predictable roles, chose Soap Oprah, Academic gigs and bizarre movie roles to establish his creative career. Franco is not your typical leading man, an Alien among men, whose character in the film was brought up by tough thugs who have recently shunned him and now he wants his power back.

“Spring Breakers” is not a great film and although it establishes an exciting premise, the film doesn’t really give us anything besides jumbled editing and dialogue on repeat. “Spring Breakers” does however give us a brand of creativity (be it deranged) that is irresistible. We are presented with conventional characters (soon to be college dropouts) in their conventional setting Spring Break (Fort Lauderdale), but as the plot unfolds dynamics get played out that we are not visually or narratively prepared for. Nobody wants to be in the business of tearing at a canvas (as making a film is one of the most daunting tasks an artist can take on) we want to promote originality and creative integrity, “Spring Breakers” has both these elements.