  (out of four)
By David N. Butterworth
It sounds like something you’d get from a 7-11 with a straw in
it but Blue Crush is the name of an extremely satisfying, stunningly
photographed B-movie based on a magazine article with the much more descriptive
title of Surf Girls of Maui. Anne Marie, Eden, and Lena live with Anne
Marie’s younger sister Penny in a beach hut in Hawaii (Mom took off to ’Vegas
with a guy but we don’t get into that too much). The three older girls work as
maids at a prestigious oceanfront hotel simply to make ends meet. Their true
love is surfing, however, and Anne Marie has become so good at it she stands an
excellent chance of making the cover of Surfing magazine (not to mention
the fact that the Pipe Masters surf competition is headed their way, and Anne
Marie is one of the few women who has what it takes to ride the death-defying
pipe). Will a near-fatal experience from three years back, as well as her
current distraction courtesy a vacationing pro-quarterback (played by Matthew
Davis), stand in Anne Marie’s way? There are a lot of predictable moments in
actor-turned-director John Stockwell’s film (he made the promising Crazy/Beautiful
with Kirsten Dunst last year) and these moments are well acted by a competent
cast, especially the three young women who play Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth), Eden
(Michelle Rodriguez), and Lena (Sanoe Lake). But these narrative sequences serve
mainly to move the action to the water where, unless you wait for this movie to
show up on DVD (suggestion: don’t!), you’re in for some of the most
spectacular surfing sequences ever put on film. The water is blue, the waves are
tidal, and the camerawork/editing is spectacular. Blue Crush makes you
feel like you’re right there hanging ten with the best of them and, like that
convenience store frozen beverage, it’s an exhilarating cool blue rush. |