Blue Crush
Starring Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez

Directed by John Stockwell
Rated PG-13 sexual content, teen partying, language and a fight

**1/2 out of 4 Stars, Movie Grade: B

Theatrical Release: August 16, 2002

Running time: 109 minutes

by Kevin Lang

Starring Kate Bosworth (Remember the Titans) and Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil), "Blue Crush," directed by John Stockwell ("Crazy/Beautiful"), took us into the surfing culture of Maui as it focused on a female surfer named Anne Marie (Bosworth) and her struggle to compete again after a near drowning incident.

The film was very reminiscent of a lot of other extreme sports films, if you can call surfing an extreme sport, even though it appeared to be in some scenes of the film. The movie that came to mind most as I watched "Blue Crush" was the 1985 BMX racing movie "Rad." Other than a gender reversal, both films featured x-sport athletes battling inner fears about following their dreams, and eventually coming to terms with those fears, all while carrying on a romance with a professional athlete who understood their struggle. And of course there was the scene where the small town athlete stood in awe of the professionals who came to compete. Other similarities existed such as the little sister who was part of the group, but then again these two films in no way encompass the entire genre themselves. Remember 1993's in-line skating adventure "Airborne," or what about the skiing drama from that year, "Aspen Extreme?" Many others exist, but I'll stop before I start mentioning the bottom of that x-sport barrel such as 1991's "Ski-School." Oops, too late.

"Blue Crush" will appeal to more than just surf fans. It offered humor, mild romance, and the satisfying thrill of following your dreams and making them happen. However, like most other films in its genre, the best scenes happened on the surfboard (in Rad's case a bicycle), and in the end I wished there was more surfing and less story. Much of the middle of the film was filled with a blossoming but less than satisfying romance between Anne and Matt Tollman (Matthew Davis), an NFL Quarterback on vacation in Maui. Matt and several of his teammates did add some humor to the film as they hired Anne and her friends to give them surfing lessons.

But for some time the film lost touch with perhaps its most important character, the surfing itself. At some points Anne even seemed lose touch with surfing, and I even began to question how serious she was about becoming a pro surfer. Michelle Rodriguez's character, Eden, seemed more determined for Anne than Anne was for herself. Anne spent too much of her time focusing on a budding romance/fling, and seemed too nonchalant about her surfing dream. I wanted to see her face her fears of getting hurt again by training harder and surfing more, instead of running so much from them. Surfing was the heart of the film. It just didn't beat nearly loud enough.

Just before I began to lose interest, the romance took a back seat and the film swelled into a satisfying and enjoyable conclusion, filled with Anne, her surfboard, and the perilous waves that had been haunting her dreams. As with most of these films, the ending was the best part. It's the getting there that was lacking.

The most impressive aspect of the film was definitely the surf sequences, which were so visually and audibly appealing that I felt as if I was right out in the churning waves myself. This was mostly a credit to the cinematographer, David Hennings, who gave the ocean scenes an IMAX like perspective. The enormous waves were often so overwhelming that I felt as if they were going to swallow the entire theater and wash us all out to sea. These were definitely the best scenes in the film. In the end, "Blue Crush" wasn't disappointing. It just didn't offer enough of what made it worth watching in the first place.

"Blue Crush" Review written August 14, 2002, CTF.