The Beach Bum (2019) was one of my favourite films of 2019 but sadly did not receive a cinema release in Western Australia (you can now watch it legally as the DVD, not the Blu Ray, is available to purchase at JB HiFi). One reason for the lack of screenings is that the film was a huge flop in the US and received mixed reviews. This is definitely not a movie for everyone. If you are not on board for Matthew McConaughey’s mystical space cowboy schtick at full tilt boogie levels of 1000% or Harmony Korine continuing his Spring Breakers aesthetic with cinematographer Benoît Debie depicting Miami in neon-soaked nights and sun-kissed days, this film will seem like self-indulgent trash. In its portrait of cult poet Moondog (McConaughey) who chases the eternal high and parties with both the millionaire yacht set and the driftwood and wharf rats, it is essentially plotless, observing his indulgence on every level – drugs, sex, fishing, writing – all scored to a slew of yacht rock classics on the soundtrack (this is the type of movie where Jimmy Buffet has a supporting role as himself). At the thirty minute mark, it threatens to dabble in something like a plot point when a tragedy befalls Moondog and he has to go to rehab. Yet even that is kicked to the curb for more wacky adventures and foolish shenanigans. Some performers might test your patience with their improv (Jonah Hill as Moondog’s agent), but others delight with comedy gold (Isla Fisher as Moondog’s wife Minnie, Snoop Dogg as a best bud named Lingerie, Martin Lawrence as a hapless tour guide named Captain Whack). I’m a fan of McConaughey so I really loved the opportunity for him to indulge his rambling tripper wisdom and blissed out vibe, the life force of a rambunctious positively charged stoner comedy. I’ve continually returned to the official soundtrack of The Beach Bum and delighted to the memory of the images stamped in my mind, a cackling grin in a captain’s hat and hawaiian shirt amidst dark water and orange flames while Van Morrison sings ‘Into The Mystic’. Recommended.
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