MOVIE REVIEW - Chasing Mavericks

You know every now and again a good surfing movie hits the theaters, and this time it's Chasing Mavericks.

I know, there are far more interesting things to make movies about than surfing.  So what must be done, is that there must be a far larger story within.  Soul Surfer comes to mind last year as a surfing flick with a rather deep story to tell.  And Blue Crush a couple years ago, not so deep, but a mild hit. Chasing Mavericks has nice base story and for the most part, it's true.

It's the story of young Jay Moriarity from Santa Cruz, California.   He was the16 year old kid that became world famous in 1994 when surfed and wiped out while surfing Maverick (gigantic, dangerous) waves in California.  His incredible wipe out was caught on all kinds of film and he became an international sensation from that moment on, as it made every media outlet and magazine cover world wide.   He was a cult hero of sorts from that moment on in the surfing world.

Chasing Mavericks is the story of his very young life and his struggles as both a kid and a young surfer.   His home life is horrible.  He is being raised by a single mom who has hard a hard time growing up herself.   So Jay befriends his neighbor, Frosty Hesson.  Hesson is a legendary maverick surfing icon, who takes young Jay under his wing and teaches him more than just surfing and maverick surfing.  But also becomes Jays "father,"  in the process.  This is actually more of a movie about these two coming together and bonding, and becoming a family.  And that is done very well.

But make no mistake, there is plenty of surfing.  So if surfing is not your thing, this is not your movie.  And some of the surfing is quite breath taking to watch, and very well done.  There are also a couple of side stories that this could have done without, but it's not a deal breaker.   This might be a bit too long too as I was ready for it to wrap up.  But again not a movie killer.  

This is a very interesting story, and one that you don't know, and I always think that's a leg up in today's out of ideas movie arena.  This "surfing'" movie follows the same formula in part that Soul Surfer did last year.   It puts the human story first, and the surfing second.   Most good sports movies get that right.  That is the key for success.   There is also a bit of the Karate Kid formula as well.

Mavericks stars Johnny Weston as Jay, Gerard Butler as Frosty, and Elisabeth Shue as Jays mom.  Plus, there is a really nice performance in a small role as Frosty's wife, Brenda from Abigail Spencer.  She has a nice resume of TV roles on some pretty good shows, and there is much movie work ahead for her in 2013 and beyond, with movies in production now.  She is very, very good in this small role and really props this movie up with class and a nice soft touch. She's great.  I loved her.

Chasing Mavericks.   This is going to slink away with hardly a whimper a the box office, and that's a shame.  There is much to like here.