jens-wegar

You've got a bunch of barely out of high school kids living the life out in Africa. A surfer movie, which still tries to put in a bit of crime solving, a bit of a road trip, a bit of a love triangle and a bit of family drama. The acting in many parts was pretty mediocre, only a few highlights in there. Especially one scene where the father argues with the daughter sounds so rehearsed it's just ends up feeling weird. Another one was the in a tryout for a sponsorship contract in which the commentators sounded so bored you wondered if they hadn't been given their dose of Red Bull. The only thing this movie is consistent about is the use of music in almost every scene.

There is no surprise in how the movie plays out, but on the other hand I guess it doesn't really try to be anything other than what it is: a feel good surfer movie. If you're into surfing you'll have loads of scenery to watch, and probably also get quite a bit of inspiration out of the waves. Others may just as well come up with something else to watch.

Simply put, this has got to be one of the weirder films I've seen. Like an American version of a French art film. The film builds absolutely no momentum at all. There is exactly one surprising moment. Surprising because, like with a lot of the film, the action made no sense. Yes, you can argue that the film is about the dialog and I'll admit there is probably some profound insights to be found. But what good does insightful dialog make if you're about to fall asleep constantly. Besides, if you argue that the dialog is at the center, then there are plenty of scenes of graphic nature which do absolutely nothing to further the story in itself. As far as the dialog is concerned, those scenes could just as well have been placed in a coffee shop.

Paul Giamatti's performance, although short, was a small highlight of the movie. Even though it also dragged on, it once again showed why this guy stays on the radar all the time. For those that are only interested in the movie due to Pattison's torso, there is some material for you. His acting though is not that good. Not sure if that's because of the script or because of other reasons.

In short, if you're keen on watching a dialog for 109 minutes, then this might be for you. Don't expect anything but weird, and somewhat pointless action scenes though.