GUMMO

Rated:
Extremely Dangerous
*

Director
&
Writer:

Harmony Korine

Some movies are lazy. Some movies exist just to take up space. This atrociously boring and directionless film falls right into that category. This is a shame because experimental auteur Korine is a pretty good writer. The dialogue smacks of reality, even if the situations are so far out, but words are not enough to save this turgid, bizarre film.

The plot, or what can be considered a plot, is about a whole bunch of fucked up hicks in a boring ass town doing crazy shit like: a dorky kid eating spaghetti and drinking milk while taking a bath and having his mom wash his hair. Or kids killing cats (or collecting roadkilled ones) to sell to the local supermarket for a dollar a cat. Or a skinny-as-sticks kid walking around in little shorts and big, pink bunny ears for some reason. Or three sisters taping up their boobs and looking for their missing cat, Foot-Foot. Or a kid pounding away at his bicep with a barbell made of cutlery taped together. Or kids sniffing glue and making out in a pool in the rain. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

There is a narrartor present, and it seems as if he is trying to make sense of the senselessness around him, but soon you realize that his musings are just as empty as the images. The listlessness of the film perhaps tries to make us better appreciate the sadness of these kids lives, and that would have been a good concept if it had been handled better. But Korine is more in love with weird characters and abstract reality. Film is an art form, and this type of film would be the equivalent of plopping a dollop of black paint on a canvass and calling it midnight...it's bullshit.

VERDICT:

This is about as random and pointless and movies get, but every once and a while a bit of hard truth about the disenfranchised youth of middle American sneaks in. Even these moments do not save this limp, and aimless movie about nothing. Stay away at all costs, unless you're into cinematic bullshit.