Blue Crush

Plot

As a hard-core surfer girl prepares for a big competition, she finds herself falling for a football player.

Release Year: 2002

Rating: 5.5/10 (15,392 voted)

Critic's Score: 61/100

Director:
John Stockwell

Stars: Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Matthew Davis

Storyline
Nothing gets between Anne Marie and her board. Living in a beach shack with three roommates including her rebellious younger sister, she is up before dawn every morning to conquer the waves and count the days until the Pipe Masters surf competition. Having transplanted herself to Hawaii with no one's blessing but her own, Anne Marie finds all she needs in the adrenaline-charged surf scene … until pro quarterback Matt Tollman comes along. Like it or not, Anne Marie starts losing her balance – and finding it – as she falls for Matt.

Writers: Susan Orlean, Lizzy Weiss

Cast:

Kate Bosworth
–

Anne Marie Chadwick

Matthew Davis
–

Matt Tollman

Michelle Rodriguez
–

Eden

Sanoe Lake
–

Lena

Mika Boorem
–

Penny Chadwick

Chris Taloa
–

Drew

Kala Alexander
–

Kala

Ruben Tejada
–

JJ

Kaupena Miranda
–

Kaupena

Asa Aquino
–

Asa

Faizon Love
–

Leslie

Fiji
–

Fiji

(as George Veikoso)

Shaun Robinson
–

Omar

Paul Hatter
–

Paul

Tamayo Perry
–

Tamayo

Taglines:
Three Friends, One Passion, No Limits.

Details

Official Website:
UIP [Germany] |
Universal Pictures [United States] – stills, synopsis |

Release Date: 16 August 2002

Filming Locations: Hawaii Film Studio – 18th Avenue & Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $30,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: $14,169,455
(USA)
(18 August 2002)
(3002 Screens)

Gross: $51,599,647
(Worldwide)
(3 October 2002)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

The rainbow behind Kate Bosworth at the end of the competition was real. It was almost edited out because it was too cheesy, but since Hawaii really does have frequent rainbows it was left for authenticity.

Goofs:

Continuity:
When the girls arrive on the first morning to surf, Anne Marie takes off her shirt while talking to Drew. Her shirt reappears briefly in a shot from behind, and is gone again in the next frontal shot.

Quotes:

Kala:
Hey, fluff your bangs up a little bit?

User Review

a touch of reality makes this better than expected

Rating:

The best we should reasonably expect from a movie like `Blue Crush' is that
we will be treated to some stunning footage of surfers riding the world's
greatest waves (along Hawaii's Pipeline, natch) to personal fame and glory.
We certainly get that in abundance – but what we have less right to expect,
perhaps, is that the film will offer anything else of any real quality.
After all, we've been to these kinds of movies before, harking all the way
back to those halcyon Bleach Blanket Bingo days when Gidget, Moondoggie and
the rest of those addle-brained, teeny-bopper cut-ups aspired to nothing
higher than a life of eternal youth spent wallowing in the bleach-white
sands of Santa Monica or Malibu. In the case of `Blue Crush,' therefore, I
am happy to report that the screenplay – by Lizzy Weiss (based on a magazine
article by Susan Orlean) -provides just enough touches of realism to keep
this new film both life-sized and interesting. And the majority of the
credit goes to the film's protagonist, Anne Marie Chadwick who, much to our
surprise, engages our sympathies from first moment to last.

Anne Marie is no bubble-headed, bleached-blond bimbo with nothing on her
mind but winning the big Pipeline competition. Although that is, indeed,
part of her life's plan, Anne Marie is, also, an intelligent, pragmatic
young woman, fully aware of both her strengths and weaknesses and just
trying the best she knows how to make her life work for her, the young
sister in her charge and the two surf buddy girlfriends she lives and works
with. Anne Marie is also riddled with insecurities, as she struggles to
overcome the fear instilled in her by a near-fatal accident in that very
same spot a few years earlier. Meanwhile, she and her pals work hard trying
to eke out a living as maids at a posh hotel, earning just enough money to
keep a roof over their heads and pay some of their bills so they will be
free to head to the coast at the first sign of prime `Surf's Up' conditions.

The acting in the film is really quite impressive. As Anne Marie, Kate
Bosworth lights up the screen with her subtly nuanced, poised and dignified
performance. She knows how to use understated facial expressions to convey
the thoughts and feelings of the character she is portraying. Equally
compelling are Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake as her fun-loving buddies,
Mika Boorem as her little sister, and Matthew Davis as the professional
football quarterback who becomes her love interest. Director John
Stockwell, to his credit, manages to keep the majority of the scenes
intimate in tone and realistic in nature, rarely allowing the narrative to
wander into overwrought melodrama or teen-movie farce. Even the obligatory
fight scene is kept restrained and believable.

There are occasional weaknesses in the film – a gaggle of snooty football
wives and groupies who snub Anne Marie for being too lower class for their
tastes are the primary offenders – but, on the whole, `Blue Crush' turns out
to be a much better film than its subject matter would ever lead us to
expect. That comes as a particularly pleasant and un-looked-for surprise
here in the shank of the summer movie going season.