"Gummo" Movie Review

  This is going to be a relatively short review because there really isn't that much to say, "Gummo" is pure garbage strung together and called a movie. There isn't anything redeeming about this one at all. If a friend asks you to watch this movie, know that they are not truly your friend. If a store were to give you this DVD for free they're still charging you too much. If someone at a party says that they liked this movie know that they also enjoy smashing their fingers with a hammer just for the sexual thrill, it's also less painful then watching this "movie". If a stranger hands you a copy its only so they can distract you long enough to begin stabbing you in the neck, also less painful then watching it. Needless to say this movie sucks.

   So why does "Gummo" suck so bad it made it made Helen Keller grateful of her situation? (That's the level and kind of "humor" this movie goes with folks) Well lets start with the obvious culprit, the King of the awful movie himself Harmony Korine. A man with a line of terrible movies longer then a Black Friday sale. His direction, if you can call it that, is basically to turn on a camera and allow actors with no training and apparently no rehearsal time to say their lines with the least amount of believability possible then  jump cut to some random nonsense and call the whole thing an "Art House" movie to try to give it some merit/cover. The fact that they waited until literally the last day of production to film ANYTHING shows the level of care that went into this. It appears to have been entirely one take and go, which can add realism if by realism you mean actors with the look of someone trying to remember what they're supposed to be saying and doing on their face the whole time. Its an especially stupid thing to do with non-professional actors when you also expect them to improvise their dialogue. There is no attention or care given to the acting process or any part of  film making in general at all. It basically appears someone gave Korine a bunch of money to make a movie and then he basically did nothing (except a ton of drugs I'll bet) until the last day, threw something together and released it calling it "experimental art house" cinema. Sure a bunch of critics who look for deeper meaning in even when there is none, which there isn't here, might force themselves to look for what he's trying to say in their minds but as a guy who enjoys movies this movie was just an exercise to see how long i could watch this boring movie with a non-existent plot before reaching for the off switch. Too bad for me as i watched it with a group of people, all who also hated it, that option wasn't available.

   So lets talk about the plot.....OK all finished. There is no arc here, just a collection of scenes loosely held together merely by the fact the same actors appear in different scenes. Its supposed to be about life in post tornado Ohio but really nothing is done with the idea. You can make "day in the life" movies well, its been the bread and butter of Hollywood for years, but even the most basic framework of a plot is ignored here. There's simply no reason for us to care about anything that happens to anyone. The fact that every character is some weird, stylized form of trailer trash isn't even to blame for it being borderline unwatchable. John Waters has been making movies featuring horrible people for years but he at least remembers to make them and the film interesting or fun. Korine seems intent on not doing even the basic elements of character development and instead leaves it to the viewer to makes sense of it. Nice try guy but last i checked its your job as Director to do those things and have a vision for your movie, not bail on that responsibility and push it to the audience. Maybe less time partying and more behind the keyboard was where Korine's priorities should have been.

   The acting? What acting. I'm not going to fault entirely a group of non-actors put into roles and expected to somewhat emote but i mean come on people, are you even trying? Best roles in the movie go to a kid in a bunny hat ("Bob's Burgers" style) who says nothing at all and a drunk guy wrestling a kitchen chair. There simply no acting happening here and I'm not gonna waste anymore time pretending there is because then I'd be the best actor associated with this film.

   So is there anything redeeming about this movie at all? Well it got made, that's something i guess. One or two scenes are at least able to illicit a "What the hell is going on?" nervous/confused laugh but in general this movie is a complete waste of time, money and film stock. The fact Harmony Korine is still making movies, all of which are still bad i should mention, is simply astounding after watching this abomination. Do yourself a favor and stay as far away from this one as you can

**0/10 Stars**

Pure Trash