It takes some short-cuts, sure. And takes some wild liberties with reality for the sake of the mirage, e.g. all the women at the strip club are approximately 21, which might be 30 years generous, and the gents have pretty sweet abs but don't spend much time on the treadmill and you know, Tampa isn't a blazing hell-hole. But, holy shit. First of all, Matthew McConaughey has pretty much won himself the helping-buddy oscar, finally putting those gleaming abs to some good use. And, fine, I'd fuck Channing Taters. I'm a man; if you cut me, I bleed. And there's a baby mini Gorgonzala walking around! But the mix of the hedonistic with it's shadowy comedown is brilliantly balanced throughout: we're high, we're low, we're young, we drown in our own vomit, what does tomorrow hold? I loved all of it, especially the scene with the fiance exposed and Chanings "Ok. Ok. It is what it is"; the leading lady Cody Horn who through her Feminist Beautiful Eyes showed Magic that Miami is never the answer; and every scene with Gorgonzala! Definitely makes my end of the year top 5 and has given me a good idea about how to handle all those grad-school loans. A-
