The sun, in its various hues and levels of intensity, plays an important role in Oliver Stone’s latest, “Savages.”

In the beginning of this tale of sex, drugs, money and power, it illuminates an idyllic decadence. It warms everything in a glow that suggests anything is possible, in a way that’s hazy and almost hallucinatory. But such a lifestyle can’t be maintained forever — that’s just the way these stories tend to go. And so eventually, especially in the film’s bloody desert climax, the sun bakes everyone mercilessly, bleaching away the colors and revealing the characters’ true natures.

Regardless of which side of the battle they’re on, it’s clear they’ve all become savages.

Sounds intense, and Stone’s film is indeed a lurid, pulpy film noir but with an erotic, even dreamlike California beach vibe. “Savages” is darkly funny and stylishly violent but never reaches the overwhelming level of audiovisual assault of, say, “Natural Born Killers,” for example. Directing from a script he co-wrote with Shane Salerno and Don Winslow (based on Winslow’s novel), Stone draws us into this glamorous yet seedy world and draws strong performances from his eclectic ensemble cast.

Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson co-star as best friends and business partners Chon and Ben, young surfer-dude bad-asses who got rich quick growing a particularly strong strain of pot. The two live in a spectacular Laguna Beach home with endless views of the Pacific Ocean. They also happily share the affections of their mutual girlfriend, the gorgeous, blonde O (Blake Lively), a nouveau riche Orange County princess who benefits from this arrangement in every possible way.

Everyone’s happy until the leader of a Mexican cartel, the regal but ruthless Elena (a fantastic, scenery-chewing Salma Hayek) tries to expand her territory by taking over their business. First, she sends her trusted right-hand man (an elegant Demian Bechir) to approach them with a gentlemanly (if well-armed) proposition. When they politely decline, with phrasing that will come back to haunt them, she sends one of her heavies (Benicio Del Toro, amusingly cartoony) to make her point a little more clear.

Then things start to get really ugly for these beautiful people.

Among the other colorful characters with something at stake in this increasingly are John Travolta as a DEA agent on the take and Emile Hirsch as the genius who finds complicated ways to hide the guys’ money.

Stone clearly has a pro-drug message here — or at least an anti-war-on-drugs message: Everything falls apart once controls start being exerted. That’s unsurprising, given the open way in which he’s discussed drug use throughout his life. What is surprising is the fact that he’s not beating us over the head with it. “Savages” is an enjoyably gratuitous romp, but with something to say.