Big Wednesday

The surfing sequences are what make this movie, some of the waves on Big Wednesday at the end look too huge and powerful to be real, and the sight of these men standing at the foot of them on their puny little boards, battling to outrun the awesome power of the water crashing down, is real heart-gripping stuff. The tale of a group of friends drifting through the sixties and seventies, getting into scrapes, having parties, trying to avoid Vietnam and doing all that stuff sixties movies live for, is well enough done, though the script gets a bit cliche-heavy at some points. The episodic format, a series of brief snapshots taken from various moments over a spread of ten years or so, helps capture the rambling nature of these people's lives, and gives an insight on how much things change and yet stay the same between a gang of old friends as the times move on and the world turns. Katt fares well as the narrator and core, as is Stringfellow Hawk as the former champ surfer, and Busey gives his normal crazy shouty brilliance, but the surf takes the honours.

Big Wednesday is a celebration of life on the beach as seen through the eyes of three surfing buddies who only live for riding the wave. Gary Busey, Jan Michael Vincent, and William Katt, three blond California surfer types if there ever were are the three pals with a host of supporting surfing types.

The film is four vignettes over a 12 year period from 1962 to 1974 and amazing as it seems I did not hear The Beach Boys once over the soundtrack of the film. Quite an accomplishment for director John Milius in and of itself.

William Katt is a straight arrow type and and Gary Busey and Jan-Michael Vincent are screw ups to some degree. Vincent has the most interesting character, he's a surfing god when we first meet him, the idol of all, but he doesn't like the acclaim. He goes through more changes than anyone else in the film.

Barbara Hale who is William Katt's mother plays his mother her in her last big screen appearance. If she wasn't Della Street for so many years on Perry Mason she might have wound up doing Donna Reed or Barbara Billingsley or Jane Wyatt type roles. I loved her bearing up under it all demeanor while her house is being wrecked with a wild party.

Highlight of the film is the scene at the Selective Service induction center. All the young surfers try to avoid the draft, some with some truly creative ideas. William Katt actually goes to war, the other two avoid it, but Katt's not even trying.

Second highlight is the Big Wednesday of 1974 where all three try to prove they still have the right stuff for the waves. The waves were tipping on 20 feet.

Big Wednesday is a good buddy/buddy/buddy film about three guys who live for what they love, but who have to realize it's a young man's game.

"This movie is too good for surfers." Quentin Tarantino was asked about "Big Wednesday" once and this was his answer. Tarantino grew up in southern California and surfers, he says, were mean to him and his friends. Tarantino, however, knows a good movie when he sees one. This truly is Hollywood's "perfect wave", the only time the surf culture was portrayed accurately in a studio film. The surf community consistently refers to this film with reverence, citing it's depiction of the "soul" of surfing as being worthy of their hallowed endeavors in the water. After years of Frankie and Annette or, God forbid, Keanu Reeves, this is one they can be proud of. Writer-director John Milius was a surfer himself referring to it again in his most celebrated screenplay for "Apocalypse Now" ("Charlie don't surf!"). One of the keys to this film's authenticity is the fact that the three stars did a lot of their own surfing. Actually seeing their faces as they stand up for a ride is a bonus. William Kaat, Jan-Michael Vincent and Gary Busey (actually pretty big names from this era) were accomplished surfers, Busey learning for the role. The fine cast is rounded out by cuties Lee Purcell and Patti d'Arbanville and Sam Melville as the mystical mentor Bear. Keep your eyes peeled for legendary surfer Gerry Lopez, "Perry Mason"'s Barbara Hale, future Freddy creep Robert Englund, Larry Talbot from "Miami Vice" and Charlene Tilton and Steve Kanaly who both ended up on "Dallas". If you ever had a group of friends who did stuff together, you'll find this film has a lot of depth and soul. As Matt says after riding Big Wednesday "we drew the line". The three friends have validated the thing that consumed them as young men, that is riding waves and promising to be together when the big one hit. But they also acknowledge the need to embrace adulthood and put surfing where it should be. As Bear himself said "nobody surfs forever". Sad but true. It applies to all of us, no matter what we do.

What is it about Big Wednesday that inspires so much affection? I won't repeat the many tributes that have been made here, and yes, I was a surfer, and yes, this is in my top five of all time movies, and yes, I watch it about once every eighteen months.

But something others don't seem to mention much is the perfect score that Basil Poledouris wrote for the movie, sound which echoes and complements the action throughout, and reminds me strongly of artists and music of the time like Jack Nitzches "Lonely Surfer", and "Beyond the Break". Not, for heaven's sake, the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean.

But isn't that a big part of good movies? When music, image and story all combine? (Discuss)

The other four of my five are "Andrei Rublev", "If..." "The Piano" "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

I'm not a surfer, and I don't particularly fancy gazing at hunky males in their naked torsos and swim shorts. I am, however, a fan of good cinema, and according to many film articles and cinematic reference books, "Big Wednesday" is one of the greatest American films of the 70s.

I certainly wouldn't label it as such, but I can easily understand why this film enjoys the reputation of being a classic, and why it has such a wide and loyal fan base. It's a contemporary epic, a true coming-of-age movie for an entire generation of beach boys (and girls) who were teenagers in the sixties. The film actually reminded me somewhat of "Forrest Gump", only small-scaled and centered around a shorter and specific period of time. We follow three handsome and talented surfers throughout a period of 12 years. In 1962, life is great and completely carefree, but unfamiliar things like adulthood and responsibility begin to appear at the horizon. In the following decade, they are faced with the Vietnam war recruitment and the deterioration of their beloved surfing beach area. Matt Johnson (J-M Vincent) is the most talented surfer, but also the biggest troublemaker, Leroy Smith (Gary Busey) is the reckless one, and Jack Barlow is the mature and responsible one.

The challenges these three must face are not too dramatic, to be very honest. Matt struggles with alcoholism and causes a stupid accident, Jack's girlfriend doesn't wait for him to return from the war, and Leroy can't find enough kicks to agonize himself. The scenes where the boys and their friends must undergo physical and mental tests to check their fitness to serve in Vietnam are borderline genius and definitely form the highlight of the film, but there are several aspects that make "Big Wednesday" a delight to watch and experience. The brilliant 60s soundtrack, for starters, but also Bruce Surtees' cinematography and the performances of the leading trio.