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Harmony Korine teases you even his first name seems ironic.
Is Korine celebrating Moondogs life force even when his antics bring death?
Or is Moondogs relentless boundary-flouting meant to be tragic, to suggest a drive towards self-immolation and oblivion?
A true dramatist doesnt need to choose between those extremes or render any sort of judgment whatsoever.
To him, the joke is that its all movie fodder.
Moondog is an existential hero for a weightless universe.
McConaughey is certainly flying high.
He sing-speaks his lines (some of them improvised) in a higher register, as if etherized.
He doesnt walk he bops, he swivels.
In his baggie shorts and loose, tie-dyed shirts, hes always jazzed.
Hes momentarily nonplussed seeing Lingerie fondle his wife, but his philosophy of life only hardens.
Theres a have-it-both-ways element ofThe Beach Bum.
He also makes sure that you cant get off on the romance of drunk driving.
But Korine, bless him or curse him, has the courage of his convictions or lack of convictions.
Moondog keeps drinking, keeps smoking.
I like to have fun, baby.
Funs the fuckin gun, he tells a journalist.
And for Moondog, it gives the impression of just that.
Even then, there are ironies.
Hes loose with pussy, but not with a pussycat.
They freewheel back and forth in time for no apparent reason except to seem as freewheeling as their protagonist.
The chestnut-laden soundtrack, though, is fluid.
This isnt a cheapjack indie movie.
Jimmy Buffet pops up how could he not?
All right, already, Jonah you’re able to act.
Except youve rarely been as authentically great as you were inSuperbad.
But thats Korines strategy, for better or worse, possibly both.
