The Beach Bum, starring Matthew McConaughey, is an insufferable stoner 'comedy'

Matthew McHunky McConaughey plays Moondog, a washed-up pothead poet with a Peter Pan syndrome in Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum, which first premiered at the SXSW festival in 2019. Coming from a director who made the terrible (there’s no better description) 2012 crime comedy Spring Breakers, I didn’t have any expectations from this one. And boy, do I love being right. Moondog is a local icon in the scenic vacation destination of Florida Keys. He’s known less for his literary accomplishments and more for his wild escapades with almost half the town. He’s a happy-go-lucky character with stringy blonde hair and a greasy charm that everyone finds irresistible. In between the “wild fun” he has, he does manage to log in a few words on his typewriter. And all of his indulgences are conveniently funded by his wealthy wife Minnie (Isla Fisher). Moondog is who I imagine David Wooderson (also played by McConaughey) from Dazed and Confused grew up to be. The Beach Bum does not have a substantive story; it just follows a doped up middle-aged guy who displays no self-awareness and never faces any consequences for his actions. Everything always works out for him. Is it his white privilege? Most likely. He’s coasting through life one day at a time, enjoying his wife’s generational wealth — I make this assumption because we are never told why Minnie is rich. When a deep personal loss strikes, the story and Moondog finally find some direction. Though The Beach Bum claims to be a stoner comedy, I hardly cracked a smile. There is nothing amusing about Moondog’s drunken/stoned shenanigans. Korine probably intended for his story to have a deep meaning to it: something along the lines of the “Live fast, die young” school of thought. In a nutshell, The Beach Bum is just about a middle-aged  dude-bro, by a dude-bro, for other dude-bros. [caption id=“attachment_9505731” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A still from The Beach Bum[/caption] To enjoy any movie, you have to immerse yourself in the protagonist’s world and accept that the rules they follow are just different. It’s hard to do that with  The Beach Bum  because it does not offer a distinct experience. It almost seems like Korine imagined the character of Moondog and subsequently built a story around his supposed quirks. Some sequences make no sense and offer nothing to the plot. I could not help but cringe watching Moondog perform oral sex on Minnie as she gets a pedicure or when Moondog escapes rehab with his new pyromaniac buddy Flicker (Zac Efron).   McConaughey is the perfect choice for this deeply flawed character. The man always gets the assignment right — whether he’s the troubled Rust Cohle in  True Detective  or the hauntingly handsome lead in 2000s romantic comedies like  How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days  and  The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past  or Ron Woodroof in  Dallas Buyers Club.  Snoop Dogg is Lingerie, a threadbare version of his real self; Jonah Hill is Lewis, Moondog’s agent; Jimmy Buffet appears as himself; Martin Lawrence plays Captain Whack, who claims to be a Vietnam War veteran. The supporting cast brings some momentum to the otherwise insufferable film. The film’s background score by John Debney is its other saving grace — a fresh sonic ride that pairs well with The Beach Bum’s indie-film-neon-lights aesthetic. There’s a mix of songs from The Cure (I shall revisit them once again), and also a song  ‘Moondog’  by Buffet and Uncle Snoop. The conclusion: Why was this movie made? Why did I watch it? Is there any way I can have my time back? The Beach Bum is streaming on MUBI India.