Soul Surfer: Is it any good?

Recently making the trip from movie theaters to dvd release, Soul Surfer is the story of surfing competitior Bethany Hamilton. Most of us know the story but if not, here it goes, she was the teenage girl who was bitten by a shark but did not let that stop her from surfing.

The movie begins by making sure we have a clear understanding of her home life. Her love for surfing. The realtionship with her best friend, fellow surfer Alaina Blanchard. Her relationship with God and how she views her church community, esp the youth leader.It also takes much time to make sure are aware of the the intricacies of how the Hamilton family dynamic works. Perhaps it takes too long to get through all of this, but there is a lot there. Many poor reviews of the film simply call it slow starting and sugar coated. True is has a certain cheesy feel to it, such as Fireproof or Courageous, but it is obvious that the postponed climax is purely to make sure you are completely entered into how this girl's world was prior. That is very important, esp since after the attack, as one can imagine, her entire world is upside down. She doesn't have a fear of surfing as one might expect, because as we already know she had been surfing since age three. The references to her as "The Little Mermaid" let us know that its not fear of another shark that keep her out of the water, rather she is fearful that she would never surf again. Her best friend seems to be more freaked out than she is, and had they not spent extra time on thier relationship showing us that they are inseparable, then the 5 minutes in the movie where its communicated that Alaina isn't mentally able to deal with the new storyline would not come across properly. The theme of perspective comes across over and over again after the first act, Bethany asks a question that all of us have asked at one time or another, "why does a caring, loving God allow bad things to happen to good people?" The movie takes the entire second half demonstrating that she was able to take and bear it, and even used it to help those struggling around the world. Continuing in its symmetry, the movie after the act copies the first half, concentrating most of its energy on how the family operates. From the mother daughter loving relationship and father daughter coaching relationship to how it was difficult for the brothers to handle the changes in thier new lives. The message is clear, what happens to other people happens to us as well. Take a look at your own life and you will notice that when something happened to someone else (even if they are not close to you) your own life is affected!

Therein lies the question, is it a good movie? Rather than go on and  on about the great surfing scenes, or whether acclaimed actors Helen Hunt and Randy Quaid have lowered thier perfomrances, lets take the movie itself. It is a true story, so saying "I wish they would've..." is not really an option. Take away the few CGI. The movie depicts a true story that everyone can relate too. There are many different lessons within it. When the end credits roll, you are left encouraged and feeling good. If you find those to be the makings of a good movie, then yes Soul Surfer is the movie for you!