Cool Summer Ride

Rating: 8/10 (1 September 2002)

John Stockwell's "Blue Crush" is a surprisingly good and very entertaining movie. "Blue Crush" has attractive strong young women stars, killer surfing sequences, and a story by Lizzy Weiss and Stockwell which actually holds our interest for the duration. Also having the stars surfing in bikinis is literary genius on Stockwell's part-- respecting the surf movie tradition.
Kate Bosworth plays Anne Marie, a former junior surfing champion, who has been out of competition since a nearly fatal surfing accident in a tournament. She and her surfing buds, Eden (a very intense Michelle Rodriguez), and Lena (a breezy Sanoe Lake) currently work as hotel maids at a Maui resort. This allows them to be surfer girls.
Anne Marie has taken on the responsibility to raise her younger sister Penny (well played by Mika Boorem). She is also training to make her come back in the International "Pipeline" Tournament. No nonsense Eden questions Anne Marie's commitment, when she pursues a possible relationship with a visiting Pro Quaterback, Matthew (played with goofy charm by Matt Tollan). "Blue Crush" has the teen soap opera thing going, and the build up to the day of reckoning surfing tournament which is kind of ordinary. However, what distinguishes "Blue" is the smart dialog, and that the movie is really about character and not giving up. Kate Bosworth is a star. Besides being gorgeous and athletic, she is both charismatic and vulnerable. She always comes across the screen as real. Her Anne Marie is doing the best she can, and she is up greatness, even though she is falling and failing. That is inspiring. I love strong, tough characters up to something in life in movies-- much like people in real life. "Blue" also has amazingly photographed surfing sequences with some of the most dangerous surf in the world. "Blue Crush" is the perfect summer ride.