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This is not your modern day Big Wednesday surfing movie only Betty style. Blue Crush only resembles that surfing flick of 1978 because it features three girls instead of three guys, and the whole makeup of the film is awesome shots of waves and surfing stunts, but it segments on a week instead of a decade of surfing and storylines. Personally, the girl surfer aspect is much more appealing than a dude on a board, oh how novel. The only problem with Blue Crush is the weak cliché storyline. I am looking past that portion and focusing on the kewl surfing and the strong female role. Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) a native of Hawaii and a surfer chick since childhood. She was into competitive surfing until a near drowning three years ago, coincidently at the same pipeline contest she is training so heavily to compete in now. The only thing standing between Anne Marie and winning this contest is Anne Marie. Well you know how it is, sports is 90% mental and 10% ability. So if your head is pulling out, so will the rest of you. The basic plot to this film is Anne Marie lives with her two friends, Eden (Michelle Rodriguez, Resident Evil) and Lena (Sanoe Lake) and her 14-year-old sister Penny (Mika Boorem, Along Came a Spider) in a beach shack. The girls work at a beach resort as maids, and Penny is a rebellious snot, sorta going to school. Anne Marie is training hard, she is focused but she still fears the big waves (those swirling pipes that curl over you and can drag you under instead of releasing you to shore). Three years ago she went under and smacked her head on reef, so every curl drudges up that memory, so she pulls back instead of taking the wave with no fear. Well surfer girl mouths off to a guest at the resort and gets canned. The Pro-football team staying at the resort has one hot quarterback in Matt Tollman (Matthew Davis II, Legally Blonde) who fancies the working class chick and approaches her for surf lessons. Needing the cash, she consents, only it quickly becomes more than a business arrangement. Well like any young girl with a new beau, everything else gets put on hold. Only Eden keeps reminding her what is important and when this football player leaves in a week, what will she have? Blue Crush was directed by John Stockwell in almost the same way he directed Crazy/Beautiful. He takes a very strong female lead, but makes her weak for a moment, then just when you think the strong male in her life will come to her rescue, Prince Charming points out she can stand on her own two feet. I like how Stockwell doesn’t rely on make up and fancy clothes to show a female’s beauty, he lets his leads shine without the paint and cover-up. The surfing segments were great and if you have ever been on a board it makes you yearn for those days just one more time to feel the rush. Blue Crush was written by Susan Orlean. The concept was based off the articles she wrote titled Surf Girls of Maui. This movie would be a 10 if it didn’t have the cheesy storyline surrounding the real point, so I give Blue Crush an eight for great surfing and a neat and tidy ending, but not the typical boy gets girl ending. Surfs-up dude.
Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:47:52 AM Click Here to get back into frames.
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