Blue Crush

I would be the last person on earth to deny the entertainment value of beautiful women in bikinis cavorting on picturesque beaches. “Blue Crush” may be more than that, of course, but not much more. The movie (based on a magazine article, and reportedly a pet project of avid surfer and über-producer Brian Grazer) is about the “empowerment” of young women surfers, I suppose, in much the way that “Coyote Ugly” was about the empowerment of young women bartenders. Lovely Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) a top ranked surfer before a near drowning incident a few years earlier, is determined to win the “Pipemasters” surfing contest that takes place in only a matter of days! She and her two friends Eden and Lena (Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake) live a kind of idealized Maui bohemian existence, working for minimum wage at a luxury resort, and shouting “It’s going off!” to each other when the surf’s up. Then Anne Marie locks eyes with handsome pro quarterback Matt (Matthew Davis), who just happens to be vacationing (or practicing; it’s not quite clear) on the island, and faster than you can say “hang ten” she has all but abandoned her vigorous training schedule and practically given up on the idea of the contest, much to the fuming consternation of her friends.

So that’s the message then? If you have a cute boyfriend, it’s OK to forgo your own dreams and goals? In the end, of course, Anne Marie gets her act together and enters the contest, but not before expressing a great deal of weepy eyed self doubt and dependency that no self-respecting Maui surfer-grrrl would be caught dead displaying. Even with that, the contest result sends a mixed message: Anne Marie doesn’t win, or even come close. But she snags an endorsement deal because of her plucky showing, and I suppose in modern day corporate America, that’s more important than winning. “Blue Crush,” in addition to the great looking girls mentioned above, does boast some spectacular surfing scenes, courtesy of the real-life surfing superstars who make cameo appearances and do most of the stunt surfing. The movie is picturesque in a travelogue sort of way, and modestly entertaining, but the writing and performances are barely competent. To be fair, the movie does capture some of the fear that stupendous, terrifying waves engender even in experienced surfers. On the other hand, there’s a scene when Anne Marie goes to collect money from Matt, who has hired her to give surfing lessons. Well, there’s a word for a girl who goes to a strange man’s hotel room, takes a thousand dollars from him, and starts kissing him, and it’s not “surfer.”