Harmony Korine's teen exploitation flick Spring Breakers features heavy partying, non-stop bikinis and a wannabe gangsta played by metal-mouthed James Franco.
Four Florida co-eds head to St. Petersburg for a holiday in the sun. Three of them are "bad girls," while the fourth, played by Selena Gomez, decides to break out of her "good girl" shell. In order to afford the trip, they rob a convenient store.
The partying scenes - complete with bongs, blunts, coke and booze - are outrageous and lascivious, as Korine's camera constantly zeros in on uncovered body parts. It's pretty sleazy.
The fun ends abruptly when the girls get busted on underage alcohol and drug charges, tossed in jail and bailed out by drug dealer/rapper, Alien (Franco). What starts out as a slightly disturbing romp turns into a full-scale psychotic episode.
Two of the girls (Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Benson) go along for the ride, playing Alien's sex kittens, while the other two (Gomez and Korine's sister, Rachel) beg to be released.
Franco's dealer is a far cry from the lovable pothead Saul he portrayed in Pineapple Express. Alien's not mean per se but exudes an air of menace.
A rival drug dealer played by Gucci Mane has it out for Alien, who's been stepping on his turf. Alien thinks his huge arsenal of guns will protect him. But he leaves himself vulnerable as he hunts down Archie with Candy and Brit, like two gun-toting "Angels," by his side.
This is not a case of girl power, but of girls gone wild and stupid. When the adventure ends, Candy and Brit are lucky to return home on a bus, wondering if their boring lives will ever be the same.
Spring Breakers is available on Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.
