Wednesday, May 15, 2013
SURFERS!!!
When there are cries of "surf's up" that means there will be surfers.
I am a long time fan of surfer movies. I think that I have seen them all.
Some twice.
But it has been a long, dry spell since the likes of The Endless Summer (1966).
I consulted a "best of" list and the last surfer movie was a cartoon of a surfing penguin in 2007.
So, great news.
Today's film was a biopic of the late great surfer Jay Moriarity and his mentor Rick Hesson.
a project produced by and starring Gerard Butler as Hesson.
There is a lot of plot for a simple surfing story which actually has more drama in itself than we can imagine. Surfing is laid back on shore but pretty heavy duty once it gets wet.
The real star of this film is the section of beach upstate where the so called Mavericks waves get as tall as five story buildings. They talk like that. It means 50 feet.
These waves or, as it seems they talk in the singular "wave", was not well known until recently. Now it is a media trap and over populated. But it is just as lethal.
The actors are pretty good, the story line, while cluttered, had its desired third act effect on me. I had a lump in my throat. It was nerve wracking to see actual people in those waves.
When I was a little kid we went to the Jersey Shore every fall and I played in the waves. I identify. I have always been near the water until now, the anti-water.
So, I was very happy to see this film. It is a solid 3 out of Netflix5 and if we cut out and FF some of the story which we know now, it would be a 5 when the helicopters are zooming over the waves and the riders. Spectacular!
A note. I have to admit that in the early days, I watched surfer films because the men had a lot of their clothes off and they were the kind of bodies one wanted to see for as long as possible as they flew over and under the waves.
This changed when surfing got expansive and the water got colder and I didn't have to go see a movie to see real men with their clothes off close up. Fortunate because rubber suits took over. There is very little skin in this film but that is OK. After the sexiness diminished I found myself attracted to the shear joy and terror of riding the waves. The suits do not provide any degree of safety over a pair of trunks.
I suppose that I also should mention that the all time favorite gay themed film in any "best of" listing is a surfing film, aptly named Surfing. This is not a porno film. It is one of the hundreds of gay films produced in the last ten years that actually have a story and where, in this case anyway, the surfers actually surf and we watch them do it. I do admit that these surfers in this story, do only wear boarder shorts but there is a good reason for that embedded in the story line and it is all tastefully done. Tastefulness being the difference between pornography and "erotica".They are also located in warm water surfing so it all works out.
Labels: films
