Chasing Mavericks

This one is based on a true story and released last week. Didn’t post the review earlier because most of you would have missed out on reading it on Sunday. Diwali typically assures me some solid hits :-P and more importantly, I thought you should not miss out on a good movie – at least a good concept.

Jay Moriarty lived for all of a little over 22 years. 1978 to 2001. But in those 22 years he set an example for people across all fields of work. A simple concept of being in love with something so much that you don’t need to be asked twice to do it. A concept of having a passion in life that supercedes everything else that you have. For Jay Moriarty it was surfing.

He grew up in Santa Cruz, California where there were myths of what were called Mavericks. Waves which could touch upto 80 ft – all rumoured with absolutely no confirmation whatsoever. As a child of nearly 9 years, he is saved from drowning by Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) who eventually goes on to become Jay’s father figure of sorts. Jay’s father leaves him and his deranged mother, Kristy (Elisabeth Shue) around the same time.

Jay grows upto be a champion surfer at the age of 16 and rules the roost in the Santa Cruz circuit. But there is something about Frosty that Jay intends to catch up on. Every once in a while Frosty leaves home @ the unearthly hour of 4 am. One such morning Jay jumps onto the van (the back side) and gets to where Frosty goes. Only to be introduced to – The Mavericks – they actually exist. This time around they were only about 30 ft or so but that itself is quite a bit right?

What follows is a rigorous training programme that Frosty puts Jay through so that Jay can ride the mavericks before the end of the season – something similar to what Miyagi does in Karate Kid. But a very effective programme focused on the 4 pillars of human strength – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

I liked Chasing Mavericks because of the inspirational story that it provides. Unfortunately that is where it ends. Gerard Butler is less than his usual intense self. Michael Apted (World is Not Enough) & Curtis Hanson (L A Confidential) are both Academy award nominated directors but don’t really come up with the goods this time.

There has been an effort put in to give a feel of the 80s / 90s visually. And the surf sequences are quite well done and keep you on the edge of the seats. But the overall finishing, the attention to detail, the finer nuances that one would expect from the likes of Apted and Hanson are sorely missing.

To end with, I quote, “We all come from the sea. But we are not of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again”. Inspiring story. Average movie. But watch it. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3341722905/