Screengrab via Neon / YouTube
We finally got the trailer for The Beach Bum on Wednesday, giving us an in-depth look at Matthew McConaughey as an unhinged, pothead poet in Harmony Korine's first movie since Spring Breakers.McConaughey plays Moondog, a character who's about as fringe as his name makes him sound. He gallivants through Miami and the Florida Keys in some wild-ass outfits, smoking gargantuan joints, tooling around on his boat, and getting trashed as all hell with his buddies, played by Snoop Dogg, Zac Efron, Jimmy Buffett, Martin Lawrence, and an inexplicably Cajun-accented Jonah Hill—along with his wife, played by Isla Fisher. But Moondog's true gift, aside from managing to remain standing when extremely lit, is writing: He's a widely beloved poet working on a new novel, which he's having a pretty tough time finishing.Before The Beach Bum, a film from VICE Studios and Neon, Korine, of course, made waves by writing Larry Clark's seminal, controversial 1995 movie Kids, along with writing and directing Gummo. The Beach Bum is significantly lighter than those two and Korine's last trip into the Sunshine State, Spring Breakers. More than anything, it's a pitch-perfect vehicle for McConaughey: He's right at home playing what the studios involved have called "a rebellious and lovable rogue," something he's played a ton, and always crushed.The trailer finds this particular lovable rogue getting into a whole bunch of surreal shenanigans: playing a bongo with a snake on it; riding a BMX bike and ripping weed from a gas mask; standing by as Martin Lawrence feeds his "coke-addicted parrot" another bump of blow. He also finds himself in front of a judge, who warns Moondog that if he doesn't shape up, he'll face jail time. Will he? Or will things turn out, to quote a familiar refrain from the Oscar-winning actor who plays him, "alright, alright, alright"?Check out the trailer for The Beach Bum above, and catch it in theaters when it premieres March 22.Follow Drew Schwartz on Twitter.Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.
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