withoutahat

Not buying the terrible reviews on this one. A lot of thought, skill and effort went into this film and for me it was a step above. Focus - that should get 1 star. This was original and well crafted, immensely watchable. Marky Mark did a fine job, as did Greig Fraser in shooting it, and for a clearly bigger budget, over-marketed film I think it was well worth the entrance fee.

And I managed to write all that without mentioning the soundtrack. Jon Brion of Punch- Drunk Love fame has composed a compelling score while an all round strong choice of music. More people should see this film than will be put off by the negative reviews.

I'm sure somewhere beyond the dull, carefully chiselled facades of meaningful looks and old traveller clichés are some ordinary, nice guys. But this meandering tale just seems to dissolve into endless shots of themselves surfing, or looking at a fire, accompanied by a never-ending series of just dreadful Jack Johnson-esque tunes. The only reason this movie exists beyond these guys own Macs back home, is clearly a misguided attempt by one of the two rich benefactors to promote their conservation efforts (the other rich guy just seems manically depressed). Occasional nice landscape cinematography is your only respite from this blatant attempt at self-mythologising, and creating a story where there really isn't one. Oh, and the narrator is making a book out of it all! The joy!