Movie Review Soul Surfer

Soul Surfer (2011) 

Directed by Sean McNamara

Written by Sean McNamara, Douglas Schwartz, Michael Berk

Starring AnnaSophia Robb, Carrie Underwood, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid

Release Date April 8th, 2011

Published April 8th, 2011

Bethany Hamilton's story is one of courage and perseverance deeply rooted in faith. Bethany's story of becoming a teenage surf champion, losing her arm in a shark attack and coming back to be a surf champion again is remarkable and with so many compelling elements in place it should have easily translated to a moving big screen experience.

Yet, we have "Soul Surfer" , a facile, dull witted take on Bethany's remarkable story. Terrific actors like AnnaSophia Robb, Academy Award winner Helen Hunt and leading man Dennis Quaid wilting in the face of a script so wildly simpleminded that only an amateur actor could have made any of it seem remotely real.

Underwood succeeds where the real actors fail

In fact, one amateur actress in the cast of "Soul Surfer," country music superstar Carrie Underwood, actually makes my point perfectly. Underwood succeeds where the real actors fail by blithely delivering her homily choked dialogue without affect and without the glaring obviousness of discomfort that the real actors are choking on.

AnnaSophia Robb is Bethany Hamilton. At 16 years old Bethany is a champion surfer in a family of surfers. Her father, Tom (Dennis Quaid) is her coach, her brother Noah (Ross Thomas) is her videographer and her mom Cheri is her biggest cheerleader. Bethany's best friend Alana (Lorraine Nicholson) is also her top surfing competitor.

Better as a documentary

Bethany was surfing with Alana, her brother and Alana's dad Holt (Kevin Sorbo) when a shark attacked and tore Bethany's arm off. This sequence of Soul Surfer is moving but once it ends we are thrust back into a story populated by stick figure versions of what we can only imagine are far more complex and interesting real people.

I have no doubt that a documentary about Bethany Hamilton would be thousands of times more interesting than anything in the shallow "Soul Surfer." This simplistic version of Bethany's story insults the audience and the real Bethany by delivering a superficial version of Bethany's extraordinary story.

Sticky, syrupy platitudes

Barely a moment of "Soul Surfer" rings true emotionally. Director Sean McNamara, who also wrote the script with the aid of several other writers, presents Bethany's story with such thick layers of sticky, syrupy platitude that it's a wonder any real emotion escapes the screen.

You could wait for "Soul Surfer" to come out on DVD but a more productive employment of your patience would have you wait for someone to license the footage of the real Bethany used over the closing credits of "Soul Surfer" for a documentary that might give her story the kind of telling it deserves.

Movie Review: Bridge to Terabithia

Bridge to Terabithia (2007) 

Directed by Gabor Csupo 

Written by David L. Paterson

Starring Josh Hutcherson, Anna Sophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Patrick

Release Date February 16th, 2007 

Published February 17th, 2007 

Writer Catherine Paterson's children's novel Bridge To Terabithia contains a dedication to her son and her son's best friend. That friend had passed away some years ago but it was a tragedy that was a large part of the creation of the novel. Now on film, Bridge To Terabithia is a wonderful dedication to the imagination of children and the child's capacity to love and to heal.

Jess Arons (Josh Hutcherson) has always been an outcast. At school and even at home amongst his four sisters. He has never had a friend until a new girl moves in next door to him. Her name is Leslie (Anna Sophia Robb) and though it takes a little time the two eventually become best friends. Playing in the woods behind their houses the two invent a whole new world for themselves that they call Terabithia.

There is a tragedy that comes to take a large role in the end of Bridge To Terabithia. It is a surprise but not really a shock. Some will call it manipulative by nature because it involves a child. However, I feel that because Bridge To Terabithia so well establishes these characters, and so well tells this story that such an ending is fairly earned. It's also true to writer Catherine Paterson's novel.

Directed by Rugrats creator Gabor Csupo, Bridge To Terabithia is a magical crafting of the childs mind rendered on screen. Csupo and writers Jeff Stockwell and David Paterson strike a perfect balance between childish wonder and the big screen's ability to render the imagination on film. Movies can demystify the imagination by bringing it to life. The trick to Bridge To Terabithia the movie is to show children building a world from their mind while allowing that world to seem somewhat ordinary to the rest of us, as if we were simply watching kids play.

There are special effects in Bridge To Terabithia, many of them quite striking. But the reason they work is because of the strong acting of stars Josh Hutcherson and Anna Sophia Robb. Gabor Csupo does well to allow the characters to create the wonder of Terabithia before diving headlong into massive special effects that bring the childish imagination to life.

Anna Sophia Robb has a big, bright future ahead of her. The soon to be 14 year old actress has the impish cuteness of Drew Barrymore and much of the spirit of Dakota Fanning. In Bridge To Terabithia; Robb lights up the screen with a spirited performance that is really pure joy. Though she was unimpressive in the similarly family oriented Because of Winn Dixie, Robb really impresses in Bridge To Terabithia with a top notch performance.

Watching Robb and co-star Josh Hutcherson running through the forest of their Terabithia, creating their world from scratch as they walked, can't help but make one flashback to their own childish paradise. It's a wonderfully universal experience; so well captured by this lovely imaginative film.

Bridge To Terabithia comes from Walden Media; the family movie giant. Known for biblical allegory, and children's literature adaptations, Bridge To Terabithia is notable; not for its religion, which it wears on its sleeve, but rather for the realistic experience of religion by the children in the film. When Leslie, whose family is not very religious, joins Jess and his family at church; the scene leads to a theological discussion that only kids could have. A perfect recreation of the fear and wonder that religion inspires in young children, and a very brave scene by the moral standards of a Walden Media product.

Bridge To Terabithia is one of the most censored books of all time. The novel's use frank religious discussions and of course the death of one of the characters lead many parents to want the book banned from schools. Again, Walden Media is very brave to make this film and stay true to the story. This is a far more challenging film than anything Walden has produced before and they deserve to be commended for taking the risk.

A note to parents who aren’t familiar with the book: it is quite sad and you may have some hand holding to do by the end but it's worth it for such a terrific movie. Bridge To Terabithia shines with bright young stars and a heart rending story that is very well told. Anna Sophia Robb is a young star to watch and director Gabor Csupo shows he is talented well beyond his work in animation.

Bridge To Terabithia is the kind of kids movie that film critics long for. Challenging yet sentimental, smart but accessible. This is one of the best kids movies in a very long while.

Movie Review: The Reaping

The Reaping (2007)

Directed by Stephen Hopkins

Written by Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes 

Starring Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, AnnaSophia Robb, Stephen Rea 

Release Date April 5th, 2007

Published April 4th, 2007

Is Hilary Swank finally feeling her Oscar curse? After winning two Oscars, a feat only two other actresses in history can claim, Swank continued her strong run with the terrific drama Freedom Writers. That film however, despite solid reviews was not a box office winner. Now comes the low-point of Ms. Swank's post Oscar career. The Reaping is a dull witted, thrill-less thriller. A horror film with little or no horror. A religious based scare-fest that fails to be either really religious or scary.

In The Reaping Hilary Swank plays Katherine Winter a former missionary turned college professor whose hobby is debunking religious miracles. She touts having visited 47 miracles and found 47 scientific explanations for the so called miracle. Her loss of faith is related to her time in Africa with father Castigan (Stephen Rea) where her husband and pre-teen daughter were slaughtered by fearful tribesmen who believed the sacrifices would save the lives of others.

Catherine's latest debunking assignment takes her to a small town in Louisiana called Haven. There a science teacher, Doug (David Morrissey), is trying to convince the townsfolk that they are not under attack from the ten biblical plagues. The plagues that the people believe are being visited upon them are believed by many to be coming from a teenage girl (Anna Sophia Robb) whose brother died under mysterious circumstances.

Since the death of the girl's brother, the river surrounding the town has seemingly turned to blood, frogs are falling from the trees, and soon each of the biblical plagues will have made an appearance, killing dozens of people. Is it god, the devil, or does this teenage girl represent one or the other? These are the questions that Catherine must answer before the next plague becomes the last.

I'll say this for Hillary Swank in The Reaping, she has never looked this good before. Swank has always been unconventionally attractive but in The Reaping she is tanned and toned and her sometimes severe features have been toned down through some sort of cosmetics work and all of this really works for her. If I was recommending movies solely on the attractiveness of the star, I would totally recommend The Reaping.

That however, is not something I would ever actually do. As great looking as Hillary Swank is in The Reaping, the movie is a dopey series of clichés leading to an ending more predictable than your average romantic comedy. Director Stephen Hopkins (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers) is not untalented. The problem is the story he's telling isn't all that compelling.

The Reaping plays like an above average production of one of those lame ass Left Behind movies where highly religious characters spout this and that about God's love until the wicked are smited and the righteous live on. Bad actors, overly earnest dialogue, and low budget aesthetics give those films a camp appeal that might have made The Reaping a ripe parody. Unfortunately, this high budget flick is deathly serious about its dopey, superstitious plot.

Is this the Oscar curse finally catching up with Hillary Swank? Maybe? Maybe not? The failure of The Reaping seems to be more a function of genre than of superstition. Aside from last years The Omen remake, religious themed horror flicks haven't delivered big scares since the 70's. Movie's like Bless The Child, Lost Souls and Skeleton Key have all starred beautiful starlets battling satanic forces and each has stunk out loud.

Is that because we are simply tired of rote plots and tired situations? Probably. It may also be that the old fire and brimstone doesn't really do much to put fear into people anymore. In a post 9/11 world, can the perceived horrors of potential damnation compete with the real life horrors in front of our eyes? The Reaping is also rather outdated in its reliance on the supernatural in an era where a more realistic, visceral and bloody style of horror dominates the market.

Whatever the reason, supernatural or otherwise, The Reaping is a failure. Not scary enough for horror. Not bad enough for camp, the film flickers on to the screen and simply lays there. Hilary Swank looks gorgeous and is impeccably talented but even two Oscars can't roust these characters and this situation into anything lively enough to be called entertaining.