Blue Crush Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)August 23rd, 2002
"Blue Crush" – Ride the Wave
From the movie posters in the cinema lobby, one might think that "Blue Crush" is just a mindless movie about beaches, babes in bikinis, and big waves. But don't be fooled by its good looks. Underneath, those golden tans and those bright-white smiles, there's a fine blue-collar story at work in which a young hopeful looks for a way to break out of her underprivileged environment.
The story focuses on a threesome of girlfriends who, in general, have an all-for-one, one-for-all attitude. They are Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth), Eden (Michelle Rodriguez) and Lena (Sanoe Lake). Living in Hawaii, these three are employed as lowly paid maids at a local luxury resort, but live their lives on their surfboards. Up before sunrise, they dial into the surfing hotline to get daily reports. "It's a perfect double-overhead today," one of them notes as they make their way out into the surf.
Anne Marie is the most gifted of the three. She was a rising star on the competitive circuit until she nearly drowned in a competition. She has been edging back into competition ever since but is still battling a bruised psyche.
The story focuses on her road to recovery. With the upcoming PipeMasters surfing tournament, she has a chance to regain the limelight, capture the notice of a few sponsors, and realize her surfing dreams. Surfing is her ticket into a better a life. But she has a difficult road ahead. She finds herself easily distracted and frequently out of her league.
She falls for a vacationer (Matthew Davis) and hopes that he may provide an easier ticket out of her blue-collar doldrums. International competition (with cameos from world-class surfers) provides additional jitters for Anne Marie. And, she is still a bit hesitant tackling 20-feet high waves that have sent many surfers to the hospital.
The film's hook, which makes it enjoyable fare, is that it's about two elements that isn't seen much in cinema these days. First, these three are the very essence of girl power. They work together to meet their goals. They also berate and criticize each other as well, understanding that the three form a balance that needs to be maintained if they are going to make it. They exhibit bravado and confidence but also know how to giggle and have fun.
Second, surfing is not a mainstream sport. Although you might wish that we could better understand the strategy of this sport, the audience can live vicariously as surfers through these three girls. There's a smart sequence that shows the three giving surfing lessons to overweight linebackers. And if those of the gridiron girth can do it, then we all can. But there's also poetic beauty to the ocean scenes, which brought out its inherent beauty as well as its hidden dangers. There are shots of surfers that paddle by a school of dolphins, the pristine quality of the sandbars, and the clearness of the water. It was also very neat watching the barreling surf curl over the surfers as they race out of the pipe, while their hand skims along the wall of onrushing water. It's all very neat to watch.
Grade: B
S: 1 out of 3
L: 1 out of 3
V: 1 out of 3
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