Blue Juice

When should we grow up? In this movie some guys struggle with where they're going in life. Some haven't grown up and others may have grown up too fast. The passion these guys have for surfing and their immaturity is funny and entertaining. There's also an older wise wizard like person named 'Shape' who says some funny stuff and seems consumed by wisdom and a higher power. Some of his lines are my favorite. My friend bought the DVD from Walgreens one night; he told me he'd seen it there before and noticed something about the DVD cover. He explained how someone had made a DVD cover where they put Ewen McGregor's character next to the character Catherine Zeta-Jones plays. What's Funny is that Ewen Mcgregor didn't have short hair in the film like they portray him on the 'current' DVD cover. Ewen also didn't wear that tight black surf suit you see him wearing on the DVD cover; It was worn by the films main character 'J.C.;' This is probably because Ewen McGregor has become a more well-known actor than Sean Pertwee(JC)since Blue Juice was conceived.

A Beach bummer? Sorry but no - this is a fantastically easy, fun film, and ridiculously true to life for anyone who's spent any time or has any fondness for cornwall. The characters are larger than life, but all charming and not out of place in a film of stereotypes. Lovely - no it isn't going to challenge you, but i would urge you to watch it of you are in love with cornwall, bored on a wet Sunday, or your day's surfing has been called off due to lack of waves. I think critics of this film perhaps are a bit quick in their discrimination because of the 'surfing movie' genre tag that this film carries. I would urge anyone put off by that to take another look, this is not a surf film, but a British surf film, which is of course an entirely different kettle of fish... no glossy beach babes and 'dude' but quirky, hopeless overgrown teenagers living for the next swell.

This movie is currently sitting at an overall score of 5 which is about right.

Its a middle of the road easy watch of a movie, something for a hangover perhaps?

There is zero thrills, tension or any extreme emotion tied to this for the average viewer.

Its draw will be on those who have an interest in surf (although there are few actual surfing scenes) or those looking for 90s UK nostalgia.

However one thing lacking on the nostalgia part is the music, partly due to the producers seemingly having an issue with electronic dance music, despite there being a rave scene.

Going by this movie we should all apparently be listening to northern soul, which was a trend in the UK in the 60s. It was basically a UK audience who bought up soul music which wasnt actually good enough for the American audience. Their fans (and this producer) seem to think its "authentic" and nothing to do with fashion, despite fashion being a huge part of it and the scene being built on low quality music....

The scene in the dancehall where a music producer is "confronted" for the "crime" of sampling feels inauthentic and completely out of place. The fact is many artists have benefitted from being sampled so this makes zero sense.

The other ironic part is the movies attitude towards drugs, as if northern soul dances weren't fuelled by amphetamines.

Its basically a UK melodrama about a man reaching 30 and having to decide over his surfing lifestyle and growing up.

The main actor isn't even on the poster, he has been replaced by Ewan McGregor who is a side character, possibly due to his success in Trainspotting. A very young Zeta-Jones is the main female.

Its nothing to get excited about but perfectly fine if you dont want to be too stressed out, although the heavily branded 90s surf/skate wear you may find distressing as a reminder of just how bad some of the clothing was back then.

It is customary, in a surf movie, to use footage from at least similar locations for a single ride. For a character sketch the characters were a little flat. For a bit of afternoon fluff the movie was a little inane. All in all quite a long vehicle for 5 minutes of laughter.

My main reason for watching this film was Ewan MacGregor, me being a big fan. This is a pretty good story about a guy, dubbed J.C., not wanting to grow up, and then friends who try to encourage this. Being torn between public admiration and the commitment to his girlfriend, J.C. shows us a slice of his life.

Although this film ends with every main character having gone through some dramatic moral change, it is a very enjoyable film about friends and lifestyle. Recommended for the child in all of us who doesn't want to be an adult.