When a film is sold as hedonism in its greatest form, it naturally appeals to the likes of pot heads, rebels, and poets. And that’s exactly who Mathew McConaughey pays homage to in his latest film, Beach Bum (2019).
The film is a comedic drama dreamt up by the dark vaudevillian mind of filmmaker, artist, and writer Harmony Korine. He’s known for films like Gummo (1997) and Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), but this one profiles the life of the strung out and wayward writer Moondog.
Leading the film are two of pop culture’s stoner staples—McConaughey and Snoop Dogg. Together, they are a bromance brewed in the bowl of a bong.
If you haven’t seen the movie yet, the chemistry was made apparent in a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
During a giggly jaunt down memory lane, McConaughey describes his character as a folk poet from a Bob Dylan song. He adds Moondog is an “alcoholic who never has a hangover, a perpetual poet who’s never without a rhyme.”
Snoop plays Rie—short for Lingerie—and says he came up with the name after it appeared in an epiphany. The rap pioneer divulges that he would only sign on to appear in the film if the director allowed him to share a few script notes, and the suggestion, a character name surely to go down in cinematographic history, stuck.
In the interview, it’s clear the two have a bond we can only hope translates to the Big Screen. During the talk show, they share a story about filming their first joint scene, in which Snoop quietly replaced the oregano-stuffed prop blunts with cannabis.
Unbeknownst to McConaughey, the actors sparked a real fatty and passed it back and forth for an eight-minute scene. When the director called cut, a slightly buzzed McConaughey says Snoop turned to him and announced: “Yo Moondog, that wasn’t prop weed. That was Snoop weed.”
The California rapper has his own line of herb, Leafs by Snoop, grown by a Health Canada licensed producer of cannabis, Tweed Marijuana.
“You rapped for thirteen hours straight,” says Snoop to McConaughey during the interview.
What we can tell from trailer is Beach Bum is set to be the arthouse Dazed and Confused (1993) sequel for grown ups who never grew up.
McConaughey still sways to the same stoney slang as his character in the iconic ’90s weed flick—but this time, David Wooderson ditched the 1970 Chevy Chevelle for a boat, moved to Florida, and began waxing poetic about drug trips.
The similarities don’t end there. Beyond the permanent presence of ganja, the film even comes complete with a redhead, man. But instead of Cynthia Dunn, it’s Moondog’s wife Minnie, played by Isla Fisher.
Zac Effron also plays a vape-toking recovering addict by the name of Flicker, and musician Jimmy Buffet plays himself.
As for the plot, well, Korine isn’t a big fan of those. The writer notoriously prefers to focus on creating storylines through cohesive and complimentary imagery, rather than following a linear sequence of events. McConaughey gives a little insight during the interview, noting that Moondog is a drug-addled writer working on both a book and putting his life back together.
He then casually muses in his classic Californian-Texan-blend cadence: “If you come to it with your morals on your sleeve, your arm will get burned.”
Beach Bum is in theatres now. Watch the full interview below.
