Seven years ago we were taken to a land of drugs, debauchery and aliens. A land where anything was possible and fantasies were played out to the sounds of Britney Spears and Skrillex. It was magical and hit us all with a sense of wonder.

Today we return in a more run down dogged version where rather than being thrust about unsure of which direction we’re being propelled, instead we hang around looking for the tales of beauty that a bottom feeder takes from the dingy bars and side spots of the Florida Keys.

We hang out with the Moondog, a poet who sees the beauty in the most mundane moments of life that the rest of us try to not stare at too long if it can be avoided. To witness the 60-something drunkenly wave their way off to the end of the street you require a sense of perception that sees more than just the crackling knees and uncontrolled fluids passing through their lips. However, as this movie proves that no matter how many beautiful euphemisms you can think of for the depraved it doesn’t automatically make it into valuable art. Sometimes a bore remains a bore no matter how much sweetness is peppered into it all.

Since 1993 we have enjoyed watching Matthew McConaughey exist in this world speaking his drug induced wisdom to us. He’s taught us that being present can be one of the most amazing things and everything else can fade away like angel dust. It remains a joy to watch him just exist in every moment and I barely see his display in this film as anything less than beautiful performance art. He’s tuned this character in the last twenty-plus years into something of a myth. It’s like watching a band play their best hits and being asked to do the shtick they do best in a setting that allows them to laser focus it into the best parts of it all. However, the film surrounding him crumbles around him as the elements around him just never feel strong enough to endure his strength.

We have the characters played by Isla Fischer, Jonah Hill, Snoop Dogg and Martin Lawrence that in any other film would stack up as a MVP level cameo performance. Here though they feel too stretched out and lost in this aimless narrative and unable to truly outlast the film’s runtime. When it’s all done it feels as though we’ve outstayed our welcome rather than anything else and it’s very upsetting.

A strong effort, but a lost cause that is better served as a film a third the runtime of what we’ve been presented to sustain it’s ridiculousness.