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Review by Harvey Karten
3 stars out of 4
Well-known online film writer David Poland (The Hot Button)
calls "Blue Crush" the prettiest surf movie ever. One wonders
how he could take his eyes from Kate Bosworth long enough to
see the power of the 110-foot waves, some of which bearing
sixty pounds of weight. Or maybe he was talking about Kate
after all, a young performer who dazzles on the screen as much
as she shines on the ubiquitous posters that form part of this
movie's heavy marketing campaign. "Blue Crush" is a gem
even when compared to the other major films of the genre,
including "Gidget" (1959); "Back to the Beach" (1987); "Big
Wednesday" (1978); "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982);
"Psycho Beach Party" (2000); and the hilarious wartime surf
scene in Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979).
There's more National Geographic than Cahiers du Cinema in
this potential contender for cinematography awards. Though
based on a magazine article "Surf Girls of Maui" by Susan
Orlean and adapted by Lizzy Weiss and director John Stockwell
for the big screen, "Blue Crush" is more about showing off
nubile bodies and bureau of tourism mise-en-scene than about
teaching us football and baseball fans about a sport that's as
little known here in the mainland as it is nonetheless dangerous,
fast-paced and brutal. Were Stockwell intent on technical
details, he might have introduced more of the jargon of the
sport. Many in the audience probably scarcely know the bow
from the stern and just might want to find a little more about
such sports lingo as "pocket," "ripping," "shubee" (that's me),
and "clamshell" than about a sunny romance between a
gorgeous babe and a hunk player for the NFL, but there's
enough of a solid performance by Ms. Bosworth to make up for
any of this.
Stockwell's picture centers on an ersatz family of four young
women; the aforementioned Kate Bosworth as Anne Marie;
Michelle Rodriguez as Eden; Sanoe Lake as Lena and Mika
Boorem as Anne Marie's pesky, hooky-playing kid sister Penny.
For some reason Anne Marie's mother had deserted the nest
and perhaps to compensate, a lobster-red Anne Marie furiously
trains for the superbowl of surfing, held annually on the North
Shore of Hawaii's Oahu island. Romance? Of course. Anne
Marie meets football star Matt (Matthew Davis), and while
hesitation is death for a surfer Anne Marie is irresolute about
accepting the obligatory invite to his hotel room for about 2
minutes. The three young women act as maids in a plush hotel
but Anne Marie gets fired for chewing out a slob tenant all the
better to allow her to do the mating dance with Matt, some steps
that would be prohibited to the girls who remain as hotel
workers.
The contest results are predictable, but who cares? Hawaii
looks terrific, even if your favorite sport is hanging out in a
hammock, and did I mention that Kate Bosworth is flat-out
stunning?
Copyright © 2002 Harvey Karten
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