Stranded

When you think of Hawaii you think of resorts, surfing, TV shows, etc. but this movie shows you the seedy underbelly that everyone knows is there but nobody talks about. Washed up blue collar families, dead ends, petty rivalries, gangs, desperate people on the dole, too much pot and booze, and a chance to escape that never materializes.

It'd hard to watch people make bad choices but the self-destructiveness is all too understandable and while you want them to make better decisions you can see why they don't. I thought the characters, families, and plots really resonated, and were rendered with intense realism even while being far from uplifting. I thought the Hawaiian background was very true to life and not what you normally see.

While the acting was raw and amateurish I thought it was very powerful in that it depicted how real people would probably behave under the circumstances. The plot twist mentioned in the summary was a little awkward but served to give the story more meaning from a racial and equality perspective.

Overall I feel like I found a hidden gem on Netflix and am glad to have watched it.

The movie actually had a decent plot to it. It starts with Scott Eastwood as a marine about to be executed and then it tells his story of how he got into this mess through a flashback, as a surfer who gets into trouble.

Dawn Patrol had good twist and turns to it and great potential for drama, but the dialog in the film was horrible, and i'm really surprise by how bad the acting was to this dialog.

The whole thing reminds me of movies like the Crying Game and the Sixth Sense, were the movie has a surprise twist at the end, and this one was cut together well enough to get an eyebrow raised, but the biggest difference between those movies and Dawn Patrol, is that those movies are worth sitting through.

Well cheer up, Scott Eastwood, I don't think your daddy did anything worth seeing until his, thirties anyway. This movie is just too dull and uninteresting to put anytime into it.

Scott Eastwood plays John who lives in California where the sun always shines and they all just live to catch a wave because surfing is all that matters. Then there is his brother Ben who is so good that everyone wants a photo of him pushing the boundaries of mans understanding by seeing him splash about a bit in the ocean.

Enter a femme fatale who Ben is having some sort of emotionally unstable relationship with. But oh dear she has also caught the eye of the local Latino cartels' son and heir and, as in a bad film string Daniel Day Lewis, 'There will be blood'. We also have side issues of anger management, drugs and some trite story from the Iraq war.

Now this is not a bad production and there are a couple of performances of note; indeed Scott Eastwood can act – see 'The Longest Ride' but this just lacks all the essential ingredients that make a good filmatic experience. The actual script is the main failing but overly one dimensional, stereo typical characters do not help and despite the well realised plot twist I found myself just not really caring. It is not a surf film either or a thriller of really a revenge tale just a bit of a not all the believable drama. If you are still interested then go for a rental as I can guarantee you will never even consider seeing this twice.

I like the idea of blue collar surfers trying to figure out their lives. Surfing is often associated with beautiful tropical places or the more glamorous parts of Southern California. But this time our setting is the semi-depressed Ventura. It's a town with a mixture of working class whites and Latinos.

Many reviewers have mentioned that the characters were mostly hideous people, so why would we care about them? Well, I don't think you have to like any characters in order to appreciate a film. However, I do think you need to understand why other characters would like a particular character. I didn't get that part at all with this one.

You have this so-called "Golden Boy" younger brother who is supposedly a heroic gutsy surfer and womanizer, but there is every indication that he is a self-absorbed low-life otherwise.

I guess you are supposed to assume that since his family and friends are all white trash, that they liked him for his guts and glory, and for his loyalty to his community.

Having said all that, I think our true main character, Clint Eastwood's son is supposed to be a fairly decent guy. Even when he punches a lesser skilled fighter, he doesn't beat him up. Later, he tries to do the right thing amidst various people's conception of what that means. But you can root for him.

The best performance is by a young blonde who plays the neighborhood slut. She was convincing. Perhaps that is partially because she was an unknown actress. So instead of picturing her in some other roles, you just believe her as this girl.

Our main guy makes very little money repairing surfboards, but he rides around on a tiny dirt bicycle that seems fit for a 14 year old. This guy is supposed to be at least in his mid-20's and pushing six feet tall. Perhaps they were milking his poverty a bit.

No one ever explains why our Mexican gangster is living there and doing that life, if he comes from wealth.

There is a good moral conflict, some gritty realism, a unique setting, some sexy scenes set up well, and a few minor stars involved. The beginning however will lose many viewers, because there is no indication of some of the good stuff coming. I originally gave up after 15 minutes.

Also, instead of someone telling our main guy to get some guts regarding revenge or surfing, they should tell him to go to school or get a real job. At one point his dad does say, "You are better than all this." That was a good line. I would have liked to hear more dialogue like that.

Also, give us a little more back story on the parents, the girls, and the Golden Boy.

Nice try, but missing a bit more depth and context.

I wanted to see this, because I wondered if Scott Eastwood was half as good as he's dad.Sadly No.OR at least not yet. The movie centers around a white-trash pot smoking surfing family,and some pothead surfers.

The two guys the movie is suppose to center around comes off as uninteresting,one dimensional and boring. They act like two immature douche bags who never grew up. (They remind me of the kids from high school, who you just knew would never really grow out of the whole life's a party phase.)

You can't really be bothered caring about them,cause there's no everyday life,there's nothing there to identify with. They surf and smoke pot,that's it! That's all they do

What was suppose to be the main plot, seem to be that this really great surfer kid,is getting killed because he mess around with an ex girlfriend,who now is dating a gang banger.

So he's older brother get into a fight for him with said gang- banger,so he's little brother can hook up with he's ex again. Than he go ahead dumps her a few days later on a party,he's mother even helps him. By this part of the movie I'd all ready stopped caring about any of them.

Jeff Fahey is suppose to be some guru, I think.You never see him surf though,only carrying a surf board The problem is there's no forward momentum in the story.You feel its just some random stuff put together.