I mainly went to see this movie because of Gerard Butler, who has another movie coming out fairly soon called Playing For Keeps, which is being released on December 7th of this year.  This was a movie I didn’t do too much research on beforehand, and seeing as I’m not a surfer and don’t follow surfing at all, I had no idea that Jay Moriarty was a real surfing prodigy and that the movie was based on a part of his life.

That being said, I found some of the wave footage in the movie to be pretty impressive and it made me wish I was actually there to see it.  If you were a fan of Sean McNamara’s Soul Surfer, then you’ll probably enjoy this film as well.

I did find parts of it to be slow, but I think the pace makes sense given that this movie is based on someone’s life.  I will admit that I would probably have appreciated the film more initially had I known that going in.

The best part of the movie, of course, would have to be the surfing scenes.  Seeing those waves made me actually want to learn to surf, though of course I don’t think I’ll ever try it.  I am not too fond of actually going into the water myself.  I would consider watching a surf competition though; that seems like it would be equally as fun for someone like myself who prefers to just watch sporting events from the sidelines.

I found the ending to be pretty powerful, and I can’t recall if the short snippet of the real Jay Moriarty is before or after the end credits, but be sure to stick around for that.  Fans of J.M. or lovers of surfing in general will probably find this movie to be enjoyable.  If you’re looking for a movie with a very slight documentaryish feel to it, I’d recommend checking this one out.

FINAL VERDICT: C-