MOVIE - BLUE CRUSH - Review Rating $$$$$ $$1/2 (OUT OF 10)
STARRING - KATE BOSWORTH, MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ, MIKA BOOREM, MATTHEW DAVIS & SANOE LAKE.
Based on the magazine article "Surf Girls of Maui", by Susan Orlean, this is the story of three Hawaiian working girls / surfers struggling to overcome their circumstances and fears.
I have to admit I hesitated before going to this one. I even checked out a couple of other reviews before I saw it. I don't usually do that, because I don't want my reviews to be influenced by the others, but I wasn't in the mood to watch a bad movie.
Blue Crush is not just another teen movie. It's actually a fairly good film, not oscar material, but good enough. I guess I should have known that Brian Glazer and Imagine Entertainment would be able to produce a smarter teen movie. While the girls are, all very pretty, they are not from the yuppie set. They have real lives, lousy jobs, and little money. They also have each other.
Don't get me wrong. Many of the themes touched on, are just that, touched on. This is a superficial exploration of real life dilemmas. The younger sister story line, in particular, is both unnecessary and not well done. The movie, like the relentless crash of the surf, hammers home its various points repeatedly. One begins to wonder, if the lack of subtlety, is the result of not having faith in the script or the audience.
The surfing scenes are great. From a pacing point of view there could have been fewer of them. One too many shots of the characters just sitting on surf boards is a sign that the producers, having spent the money for location shooting, were going to justify the cost.
There are no great performances in Blue Crush and no bad ones either. We will no doubt, be seeing alot more of Kate Bosworth and Michelle Rodriguez, in the future.
The difference between a good movie and a bad one, in most cases, is whether or not we can either relate to or care about the characters. Clichés and superficiality aside, Blue Crush does succeed, in getting us to hope for our heroines. That's saying a lot and justifies the price of admission.
Catch the wave and take in Blue Crush.
Alternative reviews:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-crush16f.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/mv_reviews/review.asp?mid=2044264
Official Site:
http://www.blue-crush.com/
MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2002 LIST
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2003
David Schwartz.
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