Blue Juice

It is customary, in a surf movie, to use footage from at least similar locations for a single ride. For a character sketch the characters were a little flat. For a bit of afternoon fluff the movie was a little inane. All in all quite a long vehicle for 5 minutes of laughter.

Even though I do live in Santa Cruz, I'm not particularly interested in surfing or surf movies, but still, I really enjoyed this one. The theme of being at a stage in life where you start wondering what you're going to do with it other than partying, what's really worthwhile in life, and what your values are struck a chord with me. It's a pretty universal one. I certainly know a lot of people that have dealt with it or are dealing with it right now.

The scenery of Cornwall was gorgeous. So was a very young looking Catherine Zeta Jones. The movie is beautifully shot. It was also very humorous, especially when you know lots of people like the characters in this film. It struck me as very true to life. Ewan McGregor really made me laugh as a drug dealing hippy dude who secretly just wants to be respected. I kept thinking "didn't I see that guy at a Dead show once?" The whole film kind of reminded me of Santa Cruz with an English accent.

As she often does, my wife walked away from this movie after 10 minutes. But I really enjoyed it, rate it "7" of "10". Without Zeta-Jones I probably would have given it a "5"! I saw the DVD version. Unfortunately it is only pro-logic, not Digital Dolby, but the soundtrack was pretty good. And the picture is wonderful, colorful, sharp.

British movies and British actors in them tend to be a bit "quirky", and this one is no exception. But, if you generally like British modest-budget movies, which I do, you'll like this one. The theme is "surfing" but the movie is really about the 4 male friends from high school, and the relationships they all have as they approach mid-life (their 30s).

This movie is just good entertainment, but worth the hour and a half.

A Beach bummer? Sorry but no - this is a fantastically easy, fun film, and ridiculously true to life for anyone who's spent any time or has any fondness for cornwall. The characters are larger than life, but all charming and not out of place in a film of stereotypes. Lovely - no it isn't going to challenge you, but i would urge you to watch it of you are in love with cornwall, bored on a wet Sunday, or your day's surfing has been called off due to lack of waves. I think critics of this film perhaps are a bit quick in their discrimination because of the 'surfing movie' genre tag that this film carries. I would urge anyone put off by that to take another look, this is not a surf film, but a British surf film, which is of course an entirely different kettle of fish... no glossy beach babes and 'dude' but quirky, hopeless overgrown teenagers living for the next swell.

My main reason for watching this film was Ewan MacGregor, me being a big fan. This is a pretty good story about a guy, dubbed J.C., not wanting to grow up, and then friends who try to encourage this. Being torn between public admiration and the commitment to his girlfriend, J.C. shows us a slice of his life.

Although this film ends with every main character having gone through some dramatic moral change, it is a very enjoyable film about friends and lifestyle. Recommended for the child in all of us who doesn't want to be an adult.