What's going on with Matthew McConaughey?

The Beach Bum contains so much nonsense that the act of singling out a person can say a lot: it's a Rorschach test in the form of a Harmony Korine movie. Perhaps it's appropriate that a writer focuses on how Matthew McConaughey's skinny stoner, Moondog, describes his written work:

"It's a great poem," he says with a laugh that falls between a sneer and a tee-hee. He applies the same description to the memory of the "bloody" birth of his daughter while toasting at his wedding.

Korine's characters portray the carefree Moondog as a poetic genius, which makes sense for a screenwriter-director whose latest feature, Spring Breakers, similarly portrays a grimy James Franco. Other Rorschach performers might refer to Moondog as the type who smokes a blunt knife between the toes of his wife or whoever drinks milk infused with Pabst's blue ribbon in his cat's bowl.

The Beach Bum follows the Florida man's mishaps for 95 minutes, giving a dubious movie that nevertheless allows the actor to shine in what could be his most crazy role to date. It stars McConaughey at his McConaughiest. Yet, as intriguing as it may seem, the public has not yet embraced the premise: the comedy without intrigue reported only $ 1.8 million last weekend, marking what many reports have called the widest spread of McConaughey's career.

To make matters worse, the box office bombing follows that of its latest project, "Serenity", which brought in only $ 4.4 million on its first weekend, after Aviron Pictures decided that film, also performed by Anne Hathaway, was not good enough. promote.

Previously, a series of titles most of which would not be remembered: Rick White Boy, The Dark Tower and Gold.

So what's going on with Matthew McConaughey?

That did not seem to be the direction his career would take after earning an Oscar five years ago for the Dallas Buyers Club, in which he played Texas in the 1980s, distributing experimental drugs to AIDS patients after have himself been diagnosed. The film earned about $ 27 million in the domestic market, but sparked positive reviews, many of which expressed surprise at what an actor frequently associated with commercial romantic comedies (How to lose a guy in 10 days , Fool's Gold, Failure to Launch) proved that he could do with purely dramatic role.

The notion of "McConaissance" has gone from the conquest of the cinema-goer circle to the consciousness of the public. Perhaps McConaughey would be successful as a consistent serious actor with a hint of eccentricity, his roles in Magic Mike, The Wolf of Wall Street, Interstellar and HBO's True Detective seemed to indicate . (He also began appearing in Lincoln's automotive ads at that time, which almost seems to parody the enigmatic quality of his characters and has since been parodied by likes such as "Saturday Night Live" and "South Park.")

But the McConaissance has slowly disappeared after these projects, and the recent roles of the talented actor have put the last nail in his coffin. To be fair, he never adhered to the second-act narrative: "It was a lot less for me than people seemed to think," he said last year. "There was this tale of" then "and" now. "I did not have any new interim coach or new class, I just said," F – the dollars – I leave for the "experience" in the things I chose. "

This motivation is clear as it can be when it comes to Serenity, which ranks among the most disconcerting movies of the year.

(That says a lot, given the proximity of its release date with that of Alita: Battle Angel.) The film's scrawny film director and director Steven Knight focuses on Baker Dill of McConaughey, a traumatized veteran who lives on an island called Plymouth and drinks far too much alcohol in a cup that reads "the world's greatest dad". He furiously searches for a single tuna named Justice, a fishing quest that occupies much of the real estate in a film supposed to be about Baker's ex-wife (Anne Hathaway) asking him to murder his new husband (Jason Clarke).

There is a huge plot that makes Serenity an even more scathing film, but it's in The Beach Bum that McConaughey, who has already been arrested for possession of marijuana while he was playing bongo drums naked, really reaches its peak. Moondog may not be looking for a fish named Justice, but he dresses acidically like Guy Fieri, destroys the manor of his wealthy wife with a disgusting crew of drunks and a bust as a cure detoxification with a Zac Efron with panini beard. He smokes grass and dances on luxury boats with his friends Lingerie (Snoop Dogg) and Jimmy Buffett (Jimmy Buffett). He is also a renowned writer.

While some critics embrace the chaos of the film, others find fault with his lack of coherent narrative. McConaughey is a trusted performer who brings Serenity and The Beach Bum to life. After all, he's the kind charismatic enough to get all of America across: "agree, agree, agree" after winning an Oscar and referencing his own. The slogan of the character Dazed and Confused – but his latest films seem to have lost the ability to appeal to critics, as they did in the days of McConaissance, or to attract audiences, as they did. had done in the Roman era.

Confusedly confused, we offer a final rendition of a particularly memorable scene from The Beach Bum.

Moondog laughs hysterically, because after a moment of suspense, he emerges on a lifeboat from the intense flames of his own creation, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. If we take to heart the relentless optimism of Moondog, we might also consider this a sign that McConaughey's career will be reborn as well.

It would be great poetry.