Spring Breakers meets Gummo. I loved it. Paced in a way that didn't have me checking my watch towards the end. The best role I think Shia LaBeouf has ever performed, almost as if the role was written specifically for him. As much shit as the guy has been through and thrown upon the world, I still love him. I feel like I've met every single one of these characters at some point in my life. Less poverty porn and more a reality check. A way for people in a higher class of living to see that yes, this does happen in America and it is happening right now (I hope the old people in the theater at 1 p.m. left with some thought other than "How very un-Christian, I had no idea this film would be so shocking.") A way for people who could never even imagine relating to this level of poverty, to see it displayed before them in an uncomfortably realistic way (though not nearly as uncomfortable as Gummo). The movie felt so real that I almost forgot, at times, that it was a movie. I'm unsure whether it was all scripted or the actors were ad-libbing every scene. I'm unsure whether these were all actors or if they were just bringing a camera into people's lives to see what would happen. At the end of the day, I don't think it was trying to tell us anything, nor impart some greater message. The makers of the film have probably never experienced poverty such as this, but all the same it is there. And we can see it. And that's important.