‘Soul Surfer’ Simply Too Bland For True Inspiration

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – In the pantheon of modern girl surfer movies there is “Blue Crush” and…”Blue Crush 2.” “Soul Surfer” is different, it is based on a true story of a tremendous physical loss for a competitive surfer, and her family’s strength in dealing with the crisis. With so much drama, in fact, its surprising that the film is as flavorless as dry toast.

The problem is not with the essence of the story, it is with the decision to present it through the sport of surfing (limited interest) and any human reaction to the tragedy, except for the old courage-and-pick-her-up thread that permeates all cliched sports movies. Soul Surfer could have been better had it been more honestly emotional, but the production didn’t want that messiness in the way of hanging ten.

AnnaSophia Robb is Bethany Hamilton, a typical Hawaiian girl whose passions lie with the water and competitive surfing. Her parents are Tom and Cheri Hamilton (Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt) who provide the solid foundation for the love of the curl, as they were once also competitive surfers. They all live in the paradise of Hawaii, and Bethany even finds time to volunteer through her church on various missionary trips through another congregation member, Sarah (Carrie Underwood).

All is well until a tragic incident changes everything. While practicing surfing with her best friend Alana (Lorraine Nicholson), out of the blue a shark reaches Bethany and severs her arm to the shoulder. In shock and in recovery, she must find a way to regain a normal life, which includes her love of the waves and surfing. While getting better and fighting depression, the church reaches out to give her purpose, and she joins a mission to the tsunami-ravaged shores of Indonesia.

Surf Family Hamilton: Dennis Quaid (Tom), Helen Hunt (Cheri) and AnnaSophia Robb (Bethany) in ‘Soul Surfer’ Photo credit: Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment

Finding her inspiration, she comes back to Hawaii more determined than ever to rejoin the competitive surfer’s world. It all comes down to the big tournament, where her determination will take on the waves and take her that much closer to feeling whole again.

There is nothing wrong with this treacly narrative, except for its dullness. The problem is with the presentation. Bethany’s family was too narrowly defined emotionally. There was no realness in their sanitized outlook, and besides the extreme tragedy of the shark event, there was no range of feelings. Everybody seemed so “on” all the time that there was no depth, except when in the water.

Dennis Quaid was better at handling the supporting parent role better than Helen Hunt, probably because he looks more the part of an ex-surfer. The rest of the cast are mere props around the tragedy, and even their foray into the uncharted carnage of the tsunami had no feeling to it, except in pointing out the exceptional nature of the Christian missionaries in coming to the aid of the region.

The shark attack sequence needs to write a check to Steven Spielberg. Exploring all the same angles as “Jaws,” the underwater camera work was straight out of the SS playbook. There was none of the anticipation or sense of fear regarding the attack, just a bunch of underwater shots looking up, and a shark that looked like the mechanical one that wouldn’t work on the Jaws set. There was even a scene of the shark hanging in a style of the previous film, with Quaid carefully matching the teeth marks.

The focus on surfing as a story driver was a mistake. There are three major competitions, with extended surf hero cameos from everyone except Don Ho (he died in 2007). And despite the attempts to micro-analyze the competition, the non-beach bum will have a hard time making heads or tales out of it. But it is safe to say that if you love surfing, you’ll love this movie.

Aftermath: AnnaSophia Robb and Carrie Underwood (Sarah) Help Tsunami Victims in ‘Soul Surfer’ Photo credit: Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment

The blandness also lies in the predictable nature in the results of the recovery. Given Bethany’s previous competitive streak and her love of the surf, all that is left after her recovery is a voyeuristic gawk at a girl with a severed limb on a surfboard and the countdown to the comeback. There is even cheap theatrics associated with that, as a surfing rules committee makes NFL replay look casual.

The only thing that can elicit some heat from such a tragedy is an empathetic exploration of the psychology of recovering from such a blow. That is glossed over in the rush to get Bethany back on the surfboard. She finds a way to do what she loves again, but how has it changed her?

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com