Blue Crush Review
Although its standard-issue plot and dialogue aren't in danger of winning any awards, it's hard not to root for this good-hearted, often thrilling surf flick. Blue Crush is so sure that girls rule that it doesn't waste much time establishing the fact, and its collection of burners and alterna-kids is so rough-edged and authentic that all thoughts of prefab John_Hughes suburbia can easily be banished. Instead of faux high-school politics and strident feminism, the film focuses on spectacular footage of extreme surfing, with just enough working-class back story to lend the ESPN-isms dramatic heft. With a chip on her shoulder and some definition in her biceps, model-perfect Kate_Bosworth is never less than adequate as pro hopeful Anne Marie, the focus of the story. That ethnically balanced sidekicks Michelle_Rodriguez and Sanoe_Lake would probably make more convincing star athletes is a minor quibble, easily chalked up to cold Hollywood reality. (Besides, it's more fun to watch Rodriguez generate Resident_Evil-style lesbian subtext in her supporting role than it would be to see her sidle up to a quarterback beau in the lead.) It's a cliché to say so, but the real stars are the wave-riding action sequences, which seem more like an IMAX documentary than the payoff in a sports-themed romance. Director/screenwriter John_Stockwell goes in for a few too many motivational clichés at the end, but once the digitally tweaked Bosworth is in the eye of a swell, Blue Crush is pure action, the script incidental. Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
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