Spring Breakers Review

I'll give Spring Breakers this, it sure was...unique. Spring Breakers is a crime thriller (I guess) about the classic college kids dream, going on spring break. The movie stars four friends who are tired of their boring routine and just want to go out and let loose. They want to go party down in Florida during spring break but they don't even have the cash for a hotel. So two of the girls get an idea, they decide to rob a diner. Afterwards they have all the money they need and the go on the vacation they'll never forget. Once down there they just party, drink, and get high. Unfortunately they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and they end up getting arrested. They then get bailed out by a local rapper and drug dealer named Alien (played by James Franco). And after that it's just a crazy downhill ride from there. When I first saw the trailer for Spring Breakers I thought it looked like the worst thing in the history of mankind, but I was surprised that the movie wasn't terrible. Was it good? Hell no, but it was better than I thought it would be. Really there were two things I liked about this movie, its style and James Franco. Franco really throws himself into this role and his character is absolutely ridiculous and over the top. His character was easily the best in the entire movie. But what I enjoyed most about the movie was its artistic style. The unique cinematography, the contrast of colors and light and dark, use of close ups, and more jump cuts than any movie I've seen since Crank. But unfortunately this movie was all about the style with very little substance. Other than Franco the rest of the characters were bland and uninteresting, some pretty bad writing at times, they would take an audio clip and play it over and over, and the ending is pretty ridiculous and unbelievable. Surprisingly one of the main criticisms of the movie is that it is trashy (and it really is, there were some scenes where I felt I was watching a porno). I read a review where they gave the movie their lowest rating because they said the movie lacked morals and was unethical. I don't like it when critics do stiff like this; movies are art and more importantly entertainment. And you shouldn’t penalize them because of your opinions on what is socially acceptable and what isn’t. I know some people won't share my opinion, but if you ask me there is no place for morals in entertainment. Spring Breakers was not as bad as I thought it was going be, there were even a couple things I liked about it. But at the end of the day they chose style over substance, and while that can work it didn't for Spring Breakers. 2/5