Review - Soul Surfer

Grade: B+

The Good: Subtle and humanistic interpretation of pro surfer Bethany Hamilton’s inspiring true story, anchored by superb performances and some genuinely thrilling surfing sequences.

The Bad: Treads a lot of familiar ground found in the most memorable underdog sports stories of the past 30-40 years.

Let me get this out of the way.

Soul Surfer is not 127 Hours for families.

While not as visceral or stylish as the James Franco starrer, Soul Surfer is consistently moving and heartwarming without pandering or tear-baiting. However, unless you’re soulless, there’s no way you’ll leave the theater without trying to swallow a cry bump.

More the descendant of underdog sports fables like Rudy and Rocky than a conveniently timed spin on the inspirational amputee ‘genre’, Soul Surfer tells the true story of pro surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm at 13 after a freak shark attack in 2003. A rising teen surf star, Bethany (AnnaSophia Robb) was poised to ascend to the top of competitive surfing before the attack. The film, based on Hamilton’s 2004 autobiography Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, tracks her challenging recovery and subsequent journey back to competitive dominance. With the help of her tight-knit family—led ably by Helen Hunt as Bethany’s mother, Cheri, in one her strongest roles since As Good as it Gets and Dennis Quaid, reliably gruff as patriarch Tom, who is also battling a physical challenge that keeps him off the waves—and the community of Lihue, Hawaii—including Kevin Sorbo as Holt Blanchard, father of Bethany’s best friend and fellow pro surfer, Alana Blanchard (Lorraine Nicholson),and the man who helped save Bethany after the attack—Bethany retrains herself to not only live with her new condition, but to compete.

Key to Bethany’s journey is faith. Former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood plays an understated role as the Youth Group director at Bethany’s church, Sarah Hill, providing a spiritual counterpoint to Bethany’s emerging crisis of faith. It is Underwood’s character who plays a significant role in guiding Bethany to an event that renews her faith and her desire to surf, eventually culminating in a touching, rousing conclusion that only a film like this could earn.

Despite the power of its conclusion, Soul Surfer is more concerned with Bethany’s journey. A journey that is elevated by great performances all around. It’s hard to say an actor/actress stole the show when it’s their show, but AnnaSophia Robb does a phenomenal job as Bethany. Robb brings great composure and subtlety to her role, revealing the preternatural calm and resolve that defines Bethany, even before the attack. A true sign of not only great acting, but great material, is how well an actor/character earns their cathartic moments. When Bethany finally reveals how the weight of her injury has affected her, Robb plays it with just the right amount of reserve and release to avoid pandering melodrama. Hunt and Quaid provide more than ample support as Bethany’s parents with both showing the pain and pride of parents who must endure watching their child suffer and rejoice as that child shows a quality that exceeds their expectations. Hunt, in particular, shines, playing Bethany’s mother as a woman torn by personal grief and the need to provide strength for her family. Soul Surfer’s other main draw, Carrie Underwood, does an adequate job as Bethany’s ‘spiritual guide’. Her role is limited to essentially being a conduit for Bethany’s renewal of spirit makes allowances for occasions where the character is revealed as underdeveloped and Underwood comes across as wooden.

Not only did director Sean McNamara coax some great performances out of his actors, he managed to craft some stunning wave riding sequences that evoke the serenity, and thrill of surfing. The scenes of Bethany competing or just riding casually with family or friends may not be as fresh as the day Endless Summer was released—a poster of which adorns Bethany’s bedroom walls, as it should—but they are no less engaging or weighty. There are some neat insights into the art of surfing as shown through Bethany’s attempts to duck dive and ride the curl that are sure to catch the interest of those uninitiated in the ways of surf. McNamara balances these more active scenes with dramatic moments that are never showy, but are just quiet and bighearted enough to be genuinely affecting.

Being more of an underdog sports movie, Soul Surfer is, of course, victim to the clichés of the genre. Anyone who has seen a popular sports fable like Rudy, Rocky, or—more recently—The Fighter will know exactly where this film is going. To jaded filmgoers that, and some of the film’s leanings on faith and spirituality, could be a detriment. For those who are okay with a film that treads familiar ground, only with a solid helping of heart and subtlety, they will find a film that is as powerful as the best in the genre. And, yes, by the end, you will probably be crying and cheering.