Na Crista da Onda

Even though I do live in Santa Cruz, I'm not particularly interested in surfing or surf movies, but still, I really enjoyed this one. The theme of being at a stage in life where you start wondering what you're going to do with it other than partying, what's really worthwhile in life, and what your values are struck a chord with me. It's a pretty universal one. I certainly know a lot of people that have dealt with it or are dealing with it right now.

The scenery of Cornwall was gorgeous. So was a very young looking Catherine Zeta Jones. The movie is beautifully shot. It was also very humorous, especially when you know lots of people like the characters in this film. It struck me as very true to life. Ewan McGregor really made me laugh as a drug dealing hippy dude who secretly just wants to be respected. I kept thinking "didn't I see that guy at a Dead show once?" The whole film kind of reminded me of Santa Cruz with an English accent.

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.

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.

As she often does, my wife walked away from this movie after 10 minutes. But I really enjoyed it, rate it "7" of "10". Without Zeta-Jones I probably would have given it a "5"! I saw the DVD version. Unfortunately it is only pro-logic, not Digital Dolby, but the soundtrack was pretty good. And the picture is wonderful, colorful, sharp.

British movies and British actors in them tend to be a bit "quirky", and this one is no exception. But, if you generally like British modest-budget movies, which I do, you'll like this one. The theme is "surfing" but the movie is really about the 4 male friends from high school, and the relationships they all have as they approach mid-life (their 30s).

This movie is just good entertainment, but worth the hour and a half.

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.