It isn't surprising this surfing documentary is in the vein of Endless Summer, given that the director is the son of the director of that surfing classic. This film, however, does not follow two surfers around the globe, but instead features many surfers from around the globe. The surfing of today, however, is moving in directions never even dreamed of in 1966. The introduction of tow surfing (using a jet ski to tow the surfer into waves too big to be paddled into) and hydrofoil surfing (modified surfboards with hydrofoils attached to the bottom allowing the surfer to rise a few feet above the water) are allowing surfers to ride waves that were never before within reach.
The premise of this movie seems to be this: Colin Farrell is a complete dick to everyone around him, and he gets his comeuppance one day after randomly answering a pay phone which is marked by a sniper. The sniper taunts him and forces him to own up to all the people he has treated like shit. That's the whole movie. If you are reading this, wondering to yourself how that movie could be stretched into 90 minutes, well, after a good 50 minutes in the theater I started thinking the same thing myself. While this film was no Gerry, it was definitely too long and would have been better as a 60 minute TV movie.
I have heard from several ladies and gay men that Colin Farrell is a hottie. It would seem that, since Farrell is pretty much the sole target of the cameras in this film, that if you have a Colin Farrell crush this movie would scratch that itch. Unfortunately, the man can't act, so if you are looking for an enjoyable performance, you won't get it here. This film was due to be released much earlier but was delayed because the studio felt it was too close to the DC sniper killings. Perhaps it needed to be delayed longer so they could make it good, or delayed straight to video.
This is the second week in a row that I am slow on the uptake. Last week's review of Willard came a few weeks after I saw the film. This week's film, "Gangs of New York" came out months ago, but I just got around to seeing it this week. I had been trying to get someone, anyone, to see this film with me, but all of my friends bailed out on me. Most cited the length of the movie, which in my movie snobbery leads me to believe that they don't truly like movies.
Along with the strong, the blessed also survive, as Sam Moore describes himself in this sweaty film from experienced documentarians DA Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Ziggy Stardust, Don't Look Back, 101) and Chris Hegedus (Down from the Mountain, Startup.com). This film definitely feels like one of Pennebaker's concert films and less like a documentary proper. While there is nothing wrong with seeing concert footage of some amazing performers, it was hard to not feel let down by the lack of depth to this documentary.
Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation seems to have been going downhill the past few years, and this year really sealed the deal for me. I don't think I am going to bother attending next year's screening. The simple problem is this: there isn't enough new stuff for me to continue to send my ticket money their way. This year's flyer advertised "28 New Films! Now With 75% More Than Last Year!" The problem is that with the advent of the Internet, I had already seen the more clever shorts, and the ones that I hadn't seen were lackluster at best.