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SPRING BREAKERSMovie Reviews
Comedy about four college girls who become involved with a drug and arms dealer after robbing a restaurant to fund their spring break vacation. Cast:James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Heather Morris, Rachel Korine, Ash Lendzion, Lauren Vera, Emma Holzer, Vivian Fleming-Alvarez, Cait Taylor, Gucci Mane, Josh Randall, Tony Robinette, Ananda MilsaDirector:Harmony KorineRelease Date:March 15, 2013DVD Release:July 9, 2013Rating:RLength:1 hr. 32 min.
Spring Breakers opened to mixed reviews. • Mara Reinstein wrote in Us Weekly, "OMG, this movie... does offer the surreal image of the girls in pink sweat suits and ski masks dancing around Franco as he plays a Britney Spears ballad.... Trashtastic!" • And Chris Barsanti wrote for Pop Matters, "...beautiful but tedious..." More Reviews Below...
Spring Breakers Positive Reviews (47 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: WEAK "...has too much fun exploiting the milieu it may mean to be mocking. It's a canny mixture of satire and sell-out, if there's even any difference between the two..."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 903 words, 09/07/12
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Harmony Korine wants us to be appalled and aroused, hypnotized and titillated.... And damned if he doesn't pull it off... Franco finds the vulnerability beneath the bravado."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 709 words, 03/14/13
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "OMG, this movie... does offer the surreal image of the girls in pink sweat suits and ski masks dancing around Franco as he plays a Britney Spears ballad.... Trashtastic!"(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 132 words, 03/21/13
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The actors can't compete with the kinky, trippy visuals - except Franco, who surfs Korine's wavelength and doesn't wipe out.... this dude can hold the screen."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 381 words, 03/15/13
Claudia Puig, USA Today: MODERATE(cg) "...an exploitative display of bacchanalian excess, casual sex and rampant nudity that's more tedious than titillating.... The story skirts around a plot..."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 03/15/13
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: VERY GOOD(cg) "...offers sufficient pop-art pleasure and interestingly disquieting notes to be worth some not unserious consideration.... something different."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 824 words, 03/21/13
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: VERY GOOD(cg) "...subverts an entire genre.... This is a serious 'message movie.' In fact, it's so serious that at times it stumbles under the weight of its own self-importance."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 979 words, 03/21/13
Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Korine ('Kids') can't seem to help but push buttons... if an audience just wants to see breasts and beer and coke-snorting, then they've proved Korine's point.... Not for Kids."(See all of Sandie Angulo Chen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 689 words, 03/16/13
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Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The actresses are never more than hot bodies with guns.... Franco's the biggest gamble in the wanna-be-shocking movie, helping to make the trip pay off."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 473 words, 03/15/13
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Lewd, lush and mind-emptying... an arty lark of ambiguous entertainment value, pulsing with melancholy. It's rarely less than interesting visually or tonally..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 326 words, 03/15/13
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: WEAK(cg) "...promises all sorts of titillation, like girl-on-girl action, but in truth you're not going to get much more action than you'll find in the brilliantly cut trailer."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 607 words, 03/15/13
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...starts out like a salacious, rump-centric and blithely bare-breasted hip-hop video and ends up in the realm of scary and inspired trash."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 538 words, 03/22/13
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: POOR(cg) "...an anguished wail over the crumbling values, empty intellects and bankrupt morals of American youth.... On the bright side, they've got fantastic bods..."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 345 words, 03/22/13
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: WEAK "...among the perviest movies ever made... there's something overpoweringly creepy about the ways in which Korine goes about debasing his three leads..."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 901 words, 03/18/13
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Korine's choice of music is brilliant. His sense of humor is wicked. And the casting is so spot-on, it's sick.... It's self-indulgent, it's funny, it's dark, it's always provocative."(See all of Richard Roeper's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 813 words, 03/22/13
Scott Foundas, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "...nothing if not bravura moviemaking... Franco is a consistent astonishment. Franco and Korine are so suited to collaboration, it's amazing it didn't happen sooner..."(See all of Scott Foundas's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 265 words, 03/13/13
Bruce DeMara, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a deeply unsettling and memorable cinematic experience, with a potent message about the relentless pursuit of pleasure at the cost of one's soul."(See all of Bruce DeMara's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 615 words, 03/29/13
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...both a tangerine dream and a cultural reality check, a pop artifact that simultaneously exploits and explores the shallowness of pop artifacts."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 986 words, 03/29/13
John Semley, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "...delights in the dumbness of modern American youth culture.... The girls graduate from imitating unchecked sex and violence to actively engaging in it."(See all of John Semley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 179 words, 03/28/13
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: MODERATE(cg) "Exploitative, voyeuristic... the movie is fascinating stuff. In a purely anthropological, behavioral study kind of way, that is."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 539 words, 03/22/13
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the craft brought to bear on this fever dream is undeniable.... By turns gonzo and ghastly... deliberately structured to feel like a party that's gone on too long."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 644 words, 03/22/13
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "Franco manages to be disturbing, charming, dangerous and, oddly enough, kind of sweet in a really, really misguided sort of way. It's nuts."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 576 words, 03/22/13
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...shocking and stupid and exhilarating and tender... fuses our worst nightmares and most reckless dreams of freedom until the two become indistinguishable."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,042 words, 03/22/13
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: POOR(cg) "...completely charmless and mostly pointless.... so over-the-top, so overdone, so extreme, it'd turn even a hedonist off sex."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 527 words, 03/15/13
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...challenging... James Franco is fantastic as a drug dealer. This is definitely not for the squeamish or prudish moviegoer."(See all of Peter Hartlaub's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 617 words, 03/22/13
Roger Moore, Seattle Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "It's every bit as much fun as you think it is. Until it isn't.... The story is easy to follow, harder to justify... motivations seem as murky as the plot..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 389 words, 03/22/13
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "Korine seems almost embarrassed at putting actual content in one of his films... the onetime enfant terrible of independent film might just have something to say."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 03/22/13
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: VERY GOOD(cg) "Devilishly tests the boundaries of good taste and good sense.... For all its seeming stupidity, its masterstroke is making us complicit in the corruption of its young stars..."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 353 words, 03/22/13
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: EXCELLENT(cg) "...aggressively artful and unfocused, which would be a problem except it's also luridly fascinating throughout.... it's a hell of a ride."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 560 words, 03/15/13
Adam Graham, Detroit News: EXCELLENT(cg) "Korine doesn't have much use for narrative or character development, he's more about creating a feeling.... the buzz lasts long after the film ends."(See all of Adam Graham's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 313 words, 03/22/13
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: VERY GOOD(cg) "Korine is drawn to the criminal undertow that rests below.... he succeeds beyond expectations. Having fun has rarely felt this dangerous."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 345 words, 03/22/13
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
Scott Foundas, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "...nothing if not bravura moviemaking... Franco is a consistent astonishment. Franco and Korine are so suited to collaboration, it's amazing it didn't happen sooner..."(See all of Scott Foundas's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 265 words, 03/13/13
Sean O'Connell, Cinema Blend: VERY GOOD(cg) "Korine shrewdly provides viewers with a stylish excuse to turn off their moral compass, to bathe in the foolish vices of some truly despicable on-screen characters..."(See all of Sean O'Connell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 657 words, 03/19/13
Scott Tobias, AV Club: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...lush and exuberant and gives Korine's admittedly brilliant eye its fullest expression to date. And yet the inanity of it lingers when the sensation starts to dull."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 446 words, 03/14/13
Chris Barsanti, Pop Matters: POOR(cg) "...beautiful but tedious... arrant exploitation... the movie never figures out a way to have any fun with it.... grindhouse with pretensions of being arch..."(See all of Chris Barsanti's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 669 words, 03/18/13
Andrew Schenker, Slant: VERY GOOD(cg) "Spinning a hypnotic, repetitive web of sound and images, Korine crafts a vision, not an argument, but a no less beguilingly weird (and occasionally repulsive) one at that."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 752 words, 03/12/13
John Semley, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "...delights in the dumbness of modern American youth culture.... The girls graduate from imitating unchecked sex and violence to actively engaging in it."(See all of John Semley's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 179 words, 03/28/13
Stephanie Zacharek, NPR: FAIR "Korine is tap-dancing so fast that it's never really clear exactly what he's up to, but none of it adds up to much in the end.... Franco is amusing until his shtick wears thin."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 831 words, 03/21/13
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Lewd, lush and mind-emptying... an arty lark of ambiguous entertainment value, pulsing with melancholy. It's rarely less than interesting visually or tonally..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 326 words, 03/15/13
Dana Stevens, Slate: WEAK "...intentionally rough, imperfect... a formal strategy I might find interesting if I could make head or tail of what the movie that's using it is trying to say."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 940 words, 03/20/13
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: POOR "...incoherence, plotlessness, salaciousness and mind-numbing monotony - it has no lack of high concept.... Enough with the hipster after-school special mode."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,118 words, 03/12/13
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Guy Lodge, Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...frequently amusing... Just about every charge of social negligence leveled at it can be countered with an arch claim of intent, which makes it at once playful and wearying."(See all of Guy Lodge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 794 words, 09/05/12
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...a porn-pulp snort of derision at the American Dream and the youthful search for self, packaged as 'Beach Blanket Bingo' on acid.... monotonous and thematically empty..."(See all of David Rooney's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 956 words, 09/05/12
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "Lewd, lush and mind-emptying... an arty lark of ambiguous entertainment value, pulsing with melancholy. It's rarely less than interesting visually or tonally..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 326 words, 03/15/13
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: GOOD(cg) "...more impressive technically and stylistically than thematically.... Korine's most accessible and enjoyable work.... Just look beneath its surfaces."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 386 words, 03/14/13
24.6 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Spring Breakers's reviews are separated by an average 24.6 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Spring Breakers (47 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Spring Breakers's reviews cover 92.7% of potential readers (average is 68.0%). Volume:The film's reviews total 28,210 words involume (average is 20,220 words). Length:The film's reviews average 600 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Spring Breakers Coverage, Volume & Length (47 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 23 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.3 Release)
Spring Breakers's reviews on average broke 23 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.3 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Spring Breakers's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Spring Breakers (47 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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