A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Anne Marie Chadwick (Kate Bosworth) is a local surfer girl with best friends Eden (Michelle Rodriguez) and Lena (Sanoe Lake) aiming to surf the Pipe in competition. Her little sister Penny (Mika Boorem) is getting more rebellious especially when their mother leaves town. She struggles against testosterone driven surf culture, and her disgusting job as a hotel maid. However the arrival of pro football quarterback Matt Tollman (Matthew Davis) may distract her away from her goal.On the surface, this movie has beautiful babes in beautiful exotic locales. Beneath the surface, there is a compelling underdog story. It has emotions. She has to overcome her fears. Kate Bosworth is good as a girl unsure of herself. Rodriguez is the girl with attitude to spare. It's more than a simple exploitation film.

Released in 2002, "Blue Crush" tells the story of three young female surfers in Hawaii who support their lifestyle as maids at a high-class hotel. Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) has dreams of going professional, but she has to get over her past failures and her family's breakup to succeed. In the meantime a vacationing NFL quarterback (Matthew Davis) romances her and she has to determine if their relationship is real or just a fling (for him, that is). Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake co-star as Anne Marie's surfing friends.As you can see, "Blue Crush" is a 'sports film' in the manner of "Karate Kid" and a host of others. Although some of these movies go the comedy route -- e.g. "Cloud 9" and "Bad News Bears" -- "Crush" is a serious drama with fun flashes.Filmed on the beaches/resorts of O'ahu, Hawaii, this is a beautiful and exhilarating film to watch, the perfect remedy if the weather in your area has been dreary.There's no profanity, raunch or t&a exploitation but, to be expected, the film features some good-looking women in swimwear throughout its 104-minute runtime (dudes too, if you're a woman). By "good-looking" I mean realistically so, not like "Baywatch" which normally featured masses of ultra-hot babes swarming the beaches.For the first hour the film was pretty much what I expected it to be, nothing great but moderately entertaining for this type of flick, and then something happened at the the 58-minute mark that struck a chord with me. Anne Marie hits the waves with her friend (Rodriquez) to prepare for the Pipeline Masters as we hear the song "Youth of the Nation" by P.O.D. This sequence touched me for some reason. The music & lyrics are emotionally potent and effectively set the tone for the remainder of the film."Youth of the Nation" exemplifies the zeitgeist of the new millennium just as "My Generation" perfectly represents the mid-60s and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" typifies the 90s (I was gonna say "and just as 'Muskrat Love' typifies the 70s" as a joke but decided not to, lol). Anyway, everyone's heard the song by now but if you're not sure go to youtube and listen to it with lyrics; it's an incredible piece, to say the least, and dig those heartrending lyrics! It's reality, my friend.For me, the film's just compelling enough to give a marginal thumbs up. Fans of surfing and Bosworth (or any of the other actors) will appreciate "Blue Crush" more than me. But I was moved by the above musical interlude and one other thing...What affected me most with the story is the picture of the three maids, impoverished and disdained by the snobs but full of youthful zeal and hope. It strangely reminded me of something I experienced on my last trip to Southern California. I was leaving the last showing of a theater late at night and spied the janitorial crew coming in to clean with their mops & buckets. They were Mexicans, mostly young, and possibly illegal aliens. Everyone walked by them as if they were invisible, like they were the scum of society or something. But I made a point to acknowledge them and smile. I don't feel I deserve a medal for this or anything; it's just that I made a decision long ago that, no matter how far I go in life, I'm not going to look down on or ignore those in a more modest position. Why? I don't know, maybe because I'M scum.The film runs 104 minutes.GRADE: B-

Some sports movies are about sports (Remember the Titans) some are about the people who play them (Girl Fight). Blue Crush makes a huge mistake of choosing the latter approach, and it asks the viewer to invest in a handful of characters who are largely under fleshed, and never amount to much more than bodies in bikini's or shorts. The story is choppy and lacks fluidity, resulting in rushed characterization, a lack of explanation, and worst of all, The movie is not very exiting.Blue Crush's sole effectiveness, is that director John Stockwell has designed some phenomenal shots. He is able to work the camera behind the waves, below them or up atop them, sometimes onto the surfboard itself. Blue Crush may have some effectiveness as a sea spectacle but it is a superficial one. It's a flimsy story about flimsy people, frequently predictable. Offering a few laughs and few smiles, in an otherwise bland motion picture.

I remember seeing this movie several years ago and thinking nothing of it, I felt it was gonna be another cheesy teen movie with inane dialog and cliché moments of romance and humor. But low and behold, I was proved wrong. It may not have an award winning screenplay, but the dialog and plot along with some acting performances are decent enough to make the film entertaining than it actually is. What won me over was the cinematography and many will point out that the sound is one of the film's best assets. It was a treat to see this film back in the cinemas so I have no doubt in my mind that that same feeling can be had in the comfort of your own home. While watching this film, you almost feel as if you're in it itself and that's a feat that "Blue Crush" accomplishes because of it's superb atmosphere. It may have some cliché moments but "Blue Crush" is a nice movie to kick back to and enjoy. Not a classic by any means, it's entertaining for a nice little, hot summer afternoon.