An American business man (played by Nicolas Cage) takes his son to an Australian beach he grew up surfing at before his grandfather passed away and sold his beachfront home. After decades of sacrifice, he’s finally saved up enough money to buy that same house so he can enjoy the sunrise, sunset and surf spot with his son, the same way he enjoyed it with his family. When they arrive to the beach, however, the surfers quickly recognize he’s not local. Led by Scally (Julian McMahon), the group starts to make things a living hell for him and things tailspin quickly. He learns his soon-to-be ex-wife is pregnant with her new partner’s baby, his car won’t start, his cell phone battery dies, etc. After what seems like an insurmountable spiral, he fights to keep his sanity.
THE SURFER draws heavily from the spaghetti western genre and doesn’t exactly try to mask it. Cage is a perfect fit as he walks right up to that threshold of “campy” but refuses to cross it. His talent is on full display here as he draws the audience in while they wrestle with the question of whether everything they’re seeing is real or a hallucination. That’s all Cage and you can’t take your eyes off him as a result.
The premise is an interesting one but the execution is questionable. THE SURFER is not bad, don’t get me wrong, but a movie’s plot is supposed to answer questions, not create them. For example, where does the old homeless man go that whole time that Cage’s character conveniently needs to use his car for shelter? And then he magically turns back up when he doesn’t need it anymore?
Maybe THE SURFER is too clever for audience members like me but I left with a lot of questions and, in turn, those questions prevented me from truly enjoying my time at the movies.
Cage and McMahon are great in their roles, the story was compelling enough to hold my attention and there are strong directing moments but, at the end of the day, THE SURFER didn’t land with me. It’s a psychological thriller yet I was never anxious — or even startled — by what was on screen. If I didn’t keep have to keep a log to remember all the movies I’ve seen this year, I’d forget I ever watched it by next month. At the same time, I know there are certain people who will absolutely love this film. Are you one of them?
JKG SCORE: 6.0
Untitled Film Project 