The Beach Bum review

The ending shot of The Beach Bum shows Moondog dozing off in a boat being rocked by waves, and in many respects that’s the thesis this movie is trying to explore. Directed by Harmony Korine, The Beach Bum stars Matthew McConaughey as the titular character Moondog as he stumbles through life trying to write his book of poems while dealing with the marriage of his daughter, Heather, death of his wife, and numerous other mini-adventures that lead him down a path of confusion and debauchery.

The first act revolves around Moondog’s daughter’s marriage. Her groom to be is a straight laced dependable guy that is sorely out of place in Heather’s family circle. From her dad, a rich writer turned bum, to her mom, a rich pleasure seeker, and even to their family friend Lingerie, played by Snoop Dogg, her normal soon to be husband feels completely out of touch with her hyper sexual and sensual family. In between the congratulations and wedding ceremony the affair between Moondog’s wife and Lingerie is slowly revealed to Moondog and his daughter, but instead of getting angry over it Moondog simply walks into the water and floats with a smoke before having his father/daughter dance.

Moondog as a character is the stereotypical stoner, but surprisingly has more depth than one would think. A few scenes show the audience what his life was like before his family, and how he held similar ideals but was more of a put together dude. Clearly he had success early in life and was now living off that moment. His written activities seem to come less and less, as noted multiple times by his agent, and he prefers to go through life by living away from his family, partying with strangers, and marching through the Florida Keys like a neon blazed hurricane. Not much affects him.

When his wife dies Moondog accepts it rather quickly. He doesn’t have much of a grieving process, but he’s there for those around him like his daughter. The closest thing the film shows about his grieving process is his lack of fornication. In the beginning he was having sex and all sorts of fun with women all the time, and in graphic display, but once his wife died he didn’t partake in that aspect of his life again. He certainly was surrounded by beautiful women, and topless women, and maybe kissed a few here and there, but all in all his heavy sex life seemed to stop with her.

Along his journey Moondog gets himself into wild trouble. He’s locked out of his house, and belongings, gathers the bums of the streets for a raid, gets sent to rehabilitation, meets Zac Efron with 2019s best beard award, escapes, becomes a dolphin tour guide, reconnects with Lingerie, finishes his book of poems, wins a Pulitzer, and then burns all his money. Every time his life dips or rises Moondog is fairly unreactive through it all and always ends back by the beach with a type writer.

The editing of the film is strange and can be jarring, but it matches Moondog in the best way possible. Being essentially a montage of his life the editing can look jerky, or missing a few frames, or even blending one conversation over multiple locations as if it were one. In many respects it acknowledges how Moondog could perceive life as this fluid unfocused trip, but when it comes to important people in his life like his daughter getting married, or reconnecting with Lingerie, the editing slows down and becomes more clear signifying the important moments of his life.

Naturally, one can come up with many discussions on what this film can mean. Is it the same old story of a stoner finding peace outside the material world? Possibly an indictment on how money can affect behavior? It could just be a simple tale of the writing process and how creativity needs time to come to you, and how you can’t force it. Maybe a rich satire on tearing down modern expectations. Personally, I think it’s a mix of all of these, but I prefer the notion that Moondog died along the way and this is his life as he expects it to go while he descends down toward death because in the second half of this movie Moondog is treated as perfect. He writes his book, gets an award, his daughter broke it off with the guy he didn’t like, he made it back to the Florida Keys with a massive amount of money, and it all felt very dreamlike compared to the first half of the movie.

Overall, The Beach Bum is an odd, yet comedic, venture through a brilliant stoner’s life as he achieves everything only to burn it down to the ground and laugh about it. It won’t be for everyone, but for those that do appreciate it this movie will be one wild ride for them as their mind races with questions and confusion. So like that ending shot of the movie be like Moondog and let life’s waves rock by you, and you do you. Woof awoof.

3/5