Bosch and Rockit

This is a story of a boy who, neglected by his parents and lacking an anchor, turns to the ocean for solace and into himself for protection. He grows up into a man who is supposedly rooted in hippie mysticism and Sikhism, yet juxtaposed with high profile girlfriends and Hollywood projects. This autobiographical account of his early life has the same duality of being cathartic and being self-indulgent. Remove the neglect and there is little else of substance to the movie. Even the neglect fails to be compelling due to the idyllic setting.

Atkins wrote, directed and produced this movie, his first ever feature film. Whether it was budget constraints or Atkin's single-minded obsession with his own story, it was sorely in need of better writing and creative input. Luke Hemsworth and Rasmus King do a good job of portraying father and son, but their acting and chemistry alone are not enough to carry the movie. The film locations were lackluster and the cinematography does not capture the beauty of the east coast of Australia. In one scene, Rockit runs into Ash 126 km away from Byron Bay and yet the Gold Coast can be seen in the distance. The handling of the film is decidedly amateurish and the heavy reliance on the music of Ry X for the soundtrack did not help.

Likeable storyline of father trying to be a good father to his surf mad teenager son.

Mother is sadly having her own issues.

Unfortunately, the dark side of the father is his drug dealing and mixing with bad criminals.

The filming locations are really awesome along the East coast, especially around Byron bay and other fantastic coastal ocean locations !

Not sure whether the teenager actor was actually doing the surfing, however the surfing shots were believable.

Teenager character is also believable through good casting.

The teenage actor has such great, very long hair that girls would go crazy !

Read the What Walt's Watching review then add my bit: I thought the ending was great. It was the right choice for a movie about a kid. His life is just opening up to him.

For those who've watched Point Break (the OG) & North Shore - movies with surfing in them have come a long way since editing goofy-footed stunt doubles into the action.

Bosch (Luke Hemsworth) and his son Rockit (Rasmus King) are extremely close and obsessed surfers. Bosch and his friends grow and sell weed. His police buddy Keith comes by with an unknown corrupt partner who forces him to sell a package of coke. Deb (Isabel Lucas) falls for Bosch. Ash-Ash falls for Rockit.

Rasmus King seems to be around 16 here and I find his voice a little annoying. It's both his performance and the character as written. Rockit is acting like a clueless brat. He actually thinks that his father is a spy. It's a lot easier to take with a younger character. As for drama, the story takes away some of the tension when Keith solves their situation. I was expecting a showdown at the mother's house. I assume that Keith knows the location. There are some interesting moments. The puppy love is adorable. The story has potential. In the end, I would get a younger and better actor for Rockit.

The title "Bosch & Rockit" combine two Frank Zappa' song titles, which per se is pretty cool.

Written and directed by actor/surfer Tyler Atkins, B&R is a charming story about a teenager growing up in the beautiful Australian landscape between his passion for surfing and two disfuncional parents. While the drama side of the story could have easily made this a heavy watch, Atkins infuses the whole movie with a charming and ethereal quality that is engrossing.

The surfing scenes and overall scenery are breathtaking. Luke Hemsworth (Bosch) and pro-surfer Rasmus King (Rockit) did a stellar job in protraying their characters, and while Hemsworth's talent is well-known to anyone by now, King's acting here is nothing short of a revelation. Photography is great and the soundtrack prompted me to look it up when the movie ended.

I read somewhere that Atkins stated during a Q&A that this film is essentially about the heavy consequences of the unconscious decisions that parents make. Well, that is exactly the first thing that you'll be pondering on by the end, but also and more importantly, it leaves us with an important and often overlooked truth: it is NOT what happens to us that define us, but it is how we respond to it.

Catch it if you can.