Not all out to sea

Rating: 7/10 (27 October 2002)

Yes, the women are gorgeous. Yes, the waves and water looks magnificent. And yes, the plot struggles to surface for air while being constantly pounded by the waves of predictability and cheesiness. Essentially, a B-grade attempt at an A-class concept, Blue Crush suffers from letting it's paralleling stories get in each others way. However, it does succeed in unearthing some of the core workings of the surfing lifestyle and it is this fact, combined with the charm of its leads, which saves Blue Crush from being all out to sea.
Kate Bosworth (Remember the Titans, The Horse Whisperer) plays Anne Marie, a amateur surfer and local Hawaiian hoping to make her big break in the upcoming Pipeline Masters surfing competition. Left by her mother, Anne finds juggling work at a local resort as a maid, her sisters erratic teenage lifestyle and the need to train for the upcoming competition all too much. Haunted by the horrors of a near drowning and dogged by unpaid bills, Anne and housemates Eden (Rodriguez) and Lena (newcomer Lake) decide to give surfing lessons to a holidaying NFL team for extra money. When Anne falls for the charismatic quarterback Matt (Davis), it is time to take stock, face her fears and re-arrange her life, her priorities and achieve her destiny.
Blue Crush succeeds admirably in its attempts to capture the essence of the surfing lifestyle. Getting up at dawn to check the surf, a non-challenging job, tardiness on account of the waves, local bullies and of course the guts it requires to throw your ability at mother nature and at death itself. This last point is captured brilliantly, with the sheer size of the waves and the flashbacks of Anne's life threatening wipeout rapidly driving that fear home.
The surfing footage is without a doubt the most authentic Hollywood has captured. The leads look and lead the part, clearly getting physically into their parts. However, they are let down by shoddy editing (crowds in the background of isolated breaks) and a shocking level of repeat footage. Although acceptable on your run of the mill surfing video, a lot better is and should be demanded of Hollywood's finest.]
Unfortunately, the sub-plot storylines of Anne's parental duties to her sister, her friendship with her flatmates and her love affair with Matt are never fleshed out enough to make a difference. Neither are they relevant, as the film begins and climaxes with Anne's need to combat and overcome the fear in herself while facing some of the largest and deadliest waves of Hawaii's famous (and camera friendly) north shore. What we have here is a great 50min flick that is stretched into a feature length through the addition of predictably cheesy soap plots.
Performance wise, all 3 female leads bond and bounce of each other with the same ease and self assurance that the culture is famous for. Rodriguez especially is well cast in the meatier of the roles, however, it is a fine debut by Lake that is most likely to turn heads. Around them, competent bit parts are played throughout, although this standard drops as you continue down the line of locals pulled in for smaller parts.
Blue Crush is far from rubbish. There are some genuinely funny moments and the cast garner affection, without going far enough to insult the censors. A great start and climax hold up a weak middle and predictable ending that do little more than flesh out the running time. The big question is, how do you make a consistently good 90min+ film about a surfing competition? Who knows, but when Blue Crush is in the water it excels and is well worth a visit.