Blue Crush

ê½

Rating

PG-13 for sexual content, teen partying, language and a fight

Director

John Stockwell

The perfect wave

Starring

A trio of surfer girls, Anne Marie, Eden and Lena (Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake) spend as much time riding the waves as possible. Anne Marie is the best surfer among the friends.

They work as maids in a luxury hotel on a Hawaiian Island to make the rent and drive a `far from classic' 50's Chevy.

Anne Marie also cares for her teenage sister Penny (Mika Boorem), a brilliant student who seems about to run off the rails because of her association with the partying low-life. It seems that their mother is irresponsible and is on an extended vacation with her latest boyfriend in Las Vegas and from which she might never return. Further complicating Anne Marie's situation is that she has no man in her life that means anything to her. She has entered a major surfing competition but still carries the fear of a near drowning accident of three years ago that has taken away her edge.

Eden tries to get Anne Marie to train as she should but because she is having a "vacation affair" with a football quarterback (Matthew Davis) on the island for a NFL game, Anne Marie just can't get it in gear. So the question remains what will happen in her love life? Will she save her sister? Will she win the competition?

"Blue Crush" is a wait to see it on video movie¾that needs to be seen now on the big screen. The story has no major revelations and the script and acting are often corny. What the film does have that is awesome are beautiful shots of the ocean, above and below, and jaw dropping surfing both from the viewpoint of the spectator and the surfer who is in the wave. You can only experience the feeling of "being there" by seeing the film at your local theater with a state of the art surround sound system.

Although neither of us is a fan of hip-hop music; after listening to the decent sound track in "Blue Crush," and seeing recent films like "XXX" and "Biggie & Tupac," which feature urban music, it's obvious that hip-hop is far from being a fad and that it indeed is musical poetry. George may have moved to the point of being able to say, "I don't hate hip-hop anymore."

Even though the acting will win no awards, "Blue Crush" does a good job of being what it wants to be…a fun movie for the teenage and twenty-year-old set. And thank goodness for the absence of extended gross humor. A surprise funnyman in the film is a visiting football player Leslie (Faizon Love). He and the surfing kept George from feeling blue and crushed as he left the theater.