If a movie is going to revolve around nothing more than a goofy character, you’d better be able to find someone who’ll commit to the bit—and that’s what Harmony Korine finds in Matthew McConaughey. He plays Moondog, a poet still revered for his once-great work who now spends his hedonistic days and nights in Key West drinking, smoking weed and whoring around on the substantial fortune of his wife (Isla Fisher). After the wedding of their daughter (Stefania LaVie Owen), Moondog experiences a reversal—but it would be a mistake to expect that Korine is crafting a story about a guy who needs to mend his ways. Instead, what follows is a picaresque adventure as Moondog parties with a hip-hop star family friend (Snoop Dogg), a captain of a low-rent dolphin tour boat (Martin Lawrence) and a fellow rehab patient (Zac Efron). Korine bathes his story in a scuzzy South Florida sheen while crafting a few terrific montages, but mostly he stays focused on McConaughey’s joyful performance as a man deeply committed to nothing but fun. Even when the episodes get weird, pokey or surprisingly violent, the star radiates the bliss of pure carefree
joie de vivre.
By
Scott Renshaw