The Beach Bum (2019)

Directed by Harmony Korine. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Stefania LaVie Owen, Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence, Joshua Ritter. [R]

Slovenly, stoned-out “poet” Moondog (McConaughey) drifts through a hedonistic fog as a beach bum in the Florida Keys, living off his open-minded wife’s dime, but he’s going to have to get his act together and finally publish those poems of his if he expects to keep living the high life without the burden of real-world responsibilities. A shaggy, scuzzy movie of pseudo-improvisational ramblings and minor misadventures, frequently seeming to be on the verge of telling a story or setting up dramatic conflict/stakes, but then it (metaphorically) gets drunk and dazed and wanders off. On the one hand, McConaughey is flawlessly cast, and he turns Moondog into a disarming and distinctive character with a capital-C, but on the other hand, unless you have a giant spliff and Pabst Blue Ribbon in hand, do you really want to spend an hour-and-a-half in his company when the prevailing attribute is irrelevance? If you decide you do, I suspect you’ll be pleased to hear Jimmy Buffet appears as himself, and he can be heard a few times on the soundtrack, including a collaboration with co-star Snoop Dogg! The most star-studded cast of writer/director Harmony Korine’s career, with humorously out-there appearances from the likes of Jonah Hill and Zac Efron…but is Martin Lawrence morphing into Mike Epps?

52/100