TS Review 2: Soul Surfer

TYLER STEVENS REVIEW

SOUL SURFER

DIRECTED BY: SEAN MCNAMARA

WRITTEN BY: SEAN MCNAMARA, DEBORAH SCHWARTZ, DOUGLAS SHWARTZ, MICHAEL BERK

STARRING: ANNASOPHIA ROBB, DENNIS QUAID, HELEN HUNT

Tons of inspirational sports films have lunged into production after the success of the 2009 film, The Blind Side. But let me say this: Soul Surfer, surprisingly, is tough competition. Soul Surfer follows the true story of Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb), a thirteen-year-old girl in 2003 living in Hawaii. Her life is centered around surfing, her passion. But on one fateful afternoon, her life is put on the line and ever surfing again becomes a long-shot when Bethany gets her arm bitten off by a shark. Soul Surfer is surprisingly non-cheese, thanks to a fairly decent script. The performances are fine across the board except for the stand-out performance from AnnaSophia Robb. She delivers true emotion and devotion to the role and comes out on top. The film has trouble keeping your attention for the first twenty minutes due to the fact that you’re anticipating the fateful shark attack. But it pays off as the shark attack is a beautifully shot, intense scene that makes you want to look away, but unfortunately you can’t. From then on out, the audience around me was having trouble not crying for the rest of the movie (except for the jackass using the laser pointer). Why? The film is heartbreakingly sad because it feels so real the entire time. Not once does it feel too inspirational. The film’s penultimate scene, though, is not one when Bethany is surfing or getting her arm bitten off. It’s the scene where Bethany travels to a tsunami-destroyed Thailand and gains some perspective and faith for life and surfing. AnnaSophia Robb carries the film that has true heart and the chemistry between Bethany, her family, and her friends is pitch-perfect. Albeit predictable, Soul Surfer is an wonderfully inspirational film with a captivating amount of heart.

FINAL GRADE: B+

FINAL SAY: Although predictable, Soul Surfer is a heartbreaking yet heartwarming, inspirational film with a great performance by AnnaSophia Robb.