Having Michael Apted and Curtis Hanson, two filmmakers with a number of wonderful films under their belt, credited with a movie about surfing speaks to both my passion for film as it does for the sport, which "Chasing Mavericks" portrays.
Jay Moriarty's story certainly merits a movie about family, friendship and a passion for the ocean. The basic strokes of what the movie could've been are also present, and the actors do their best to lend some weight to what drives a few out into some of the biggest breakers of the world, and what drives many others into the ocean to find their own limits and confront their fears.
As a surfer I was also glad to see that a feature-film was finally concerned with what it takes (training, preparation, study of the ocean) to go out and catch the biggest waves you dare. No babes-in-bikinis here like the cheese-festival that "North Shore" and "Blue Crush" were.
Unfortunately these efforts are undermined by a coming-of-age story that is just too much by the numbers. Budgets always dictate structure and content, but the rough edges of the characters have to be more precisely drawn so that people who neither surf or are over the age of sixteen can relate to the story.
The heart of "Chasing Mavericks" is certainly in the right place and along with some absolutely breath-taking surf-photography the wisdom that the story provides might appeal to you.
At the same time there's too much of a cookie-cutter-structure and the real demons that possess a surfer to charge into the unknown are only slightly referenced at.
The screenplay leaves too many ambivalent aspects out or skirts them and thus the actors, trying their best, come off as bland and stereotypical.
So...I'm still waiting for a modern feature-film representation ("Big Wednesday" aside) of "what surfing is", but "Chasing Mavericks" is, although another missed opportunity, a decent step into the right direction.
Jay Moriarty's story certainly merits a movie about family, friendship and a passion for the ocean. The basic strokes of what the movie could've been are also present, and the actors do their best to lend some weight to what drives a few out into some of the biggest breakers of the world, and what drives many others into the ocean to find their own limits and confront their fears.
As a surfer I was also glad to see that a feature-film was finally concerned with what it takes (training, preparation, study of the ocean) to go out and catch the biggest waves you dare. No babes-in-bikinis here like the cheese-festival that "North Shore" and "Blue Crush" were.
Unfortunately these efforts are undermined by a coming-of-age story that is just too much by the numbers. Budgets always dictate structure and content, but the rough edges of the characters have to be more precisely drawn so that people who neither surf or are over the age of sixteen can relate to the story.
The heart of "Chasing Mavericks" is certainly in the right place and along with some absolutely breath-taking surf-photography the wisdom that the story provides might appeal to you.
At the same time there's too much of a cookie-cutter-structure and the real demons that possess a surfer to charge into the unknown are only slightly referenced at.
The screenplay leaves too many ambivalent aspects out or skirts them and thus the actors, trying their best, come off as bland and stereotypical.
So...I'm still waiting for a modern feature-film representation ("Big Wednesday" aside) of "what surfing is", but "Chasing Mavericks" is, although another missed opportunity, a decent step into the right direction.