PG |1h 52m | Sports, Drama, Biopic, Faith-based | April 8, 2011
True story: When a 14-foot tiger shark explodes out of the blue depths and shears 13-year-old world-class surfer Bethany Hamilton’s left arm off at the shoulder, it’s the end of her world as she knew it.
Now, I tend to talk a lot about Joseph Campbell’s explanation of the Hero’s Journey, since it’s the basis for so many inspirational stories. “Soul Surfer” (2011) is a perfect, real-life example of it, and as such, a must-see for anyone feeling down on their luck or wondering what they should do with their lives.
In the classic telling, the hero heeds a call from the wilderness and willingly leaves the village compound where he or she grew up, to go on a dangerous adventure to discover his “gold.” The “Soul Surfer” variation is the true story of an already-golden girl and top competitor, whose village compound was a cozy surf culture. The film demonstrates how sometimes, in order to make huge gains, one must first (often unwillingly) incur massive loss. Contrary to how that sounds, this is a feel-good movie in the best sense of the word.
Visually, it’s a stunning film (produced by Doug Schwartz, known for “Baywatch”): turquoise water, white-sand beaches, electric-blue waves, and tanned skin. Dennis Quaid is Bethany’s dad, Helen Hunt’s the mom, up-and-comer AnnaSophia Robb (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) plays Bethany, and Jack Nicholson’s daughter Lorraine plays Alana, her best friend.
The Journey Begins
The Hamilton family is the classic sport-as-religion family—surfer version. In the United States, we’re all familiar with football families; granddad and dad were all-pro, the sons are named, say, Eli and Peyton, broken bones are proud rites of passage, and crutches and casts are as common as couches. Surfing is truly the Hamilton’s collective raison d’être, second only to their strong Christian faith.
One understands quickly that in the same way that death-by-avalanche is a looming risk in a mountaineering family, and getting stuck under a submerged rock a risk in white-water kayacking families, so also is death-by-shark an accepted occupational hazard in a surfing family. The all-consuming passion and addiction to the religion-sport utterly squelches the fear of violent death that terrifies non-disciples.
The story begins with Bethany and her bestie Alana landing their first endorsements and winning a berth in the National Scholastic Surfing Association’s regional event, to the extreme annoyance of their surly rival Malina Birch (Sonya Balmores Chung).
Their church youth minister, Sarah Hill (“American Idol” Carrie Underwood in her acting debut), worries that the teens need to rethink their priorities when Bethany cancels a mission trip to Mexico in order to continue her training.
Director Sean McNamara slowly winds up the sense of incoming danger with underwater shots of surfers paddling on the ocean’s surface. While with Alana, Alana’s dad Holt (Kevin Sorbo) and her brother Byron (Jeremy Sumpter), Bethany is lying on her board after a surf session off the north shore of Kauai when a real life “Jaws” event occurs. Tiger sharks, being apex predators, can efficiently snip your arm off like pruning shears snipping a rose, and so the actual event is surprisingly lacking in drama.
However, following on its heels is a riveting, almost 10-minute sequence chronicling the Blanchards’ efforts to get the bleeding Bethany to shore and then to the hospital, where the resident surgeon (Craig T. Nelson) is preparing to operate on Bethany’s dad’s knee (Dennis Quaid) but quickly shifts his priorities to saving Bethany’s life.
Hero’s Journey
On the Hero’s Journey, one must lose one’s way in the dark forest and fall off a cliff into a ravine. Bethany tries to stage a competition comeback, but it’s too soon. She hasn’t yet accepted her tribulation and loses a few competitions. Now she’s hit bottom and gives away her board collection.
In the ravine, one meets The Ally. Bethany’s perennial ally is her family, but Sarah Hill also steps up. Bethany had previously put the church group on the back burner behind her surfing, but now she embraces the opportunity.
With Sarah’s encouragement, Bethany goes to Phuket, Thailand, to help out in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and discovers that, arm or no arm, she can put her skills to use by helping the disenfranchised natives have some fun surfing. This is known as “Bringing one’s gold back to the village compound,” or using one’s talents to serve a cause greater than oneself.
A new sense of purpose dawns on her, and with this renewed hope, she again reenters the world of surfing competition. This is where we finally see just how awesome she is—a better literal example of “I’ll beat you with one arm tied behind my back” you will not find. These competitions are real, jump-up/fist-pump/holler-“Yeah!” scenes.
Throughout the film, Bethany is a preternatural emotional Rock of Gibraltar, but we see her transformation expand when she genuinely even thanks her arch-rival Malina—a supreme mean-girl who shows no compassion for Bethany’s handicap—for not easing up on her, thereby upping Bethany’s game. You can tell it’s an authentic giving of thanks, and this display of how not to harbor resentment is so powerful that it drains all the gloat out of Malina’s face. The movie boils down to a duel between these two gifted girls.
More Gold
With Bethany’s having been forced into the wilderness to find her true “gold” and endure her “dark night of the soul,” the fruits of her Heroine’s Journey now begin to ripen, as the fan mail begins to pour in. Bethany lost her perfect, predictable, unbeatable physical specimen self, but gained the ability to continue to compete with the best while carrying an enormous handicap.
In addition to the turquoise waters, she now surfs the waves of hope and happiness that she’s generated in the souls of those around the globe who’ve suffered great loss and follow her lead by not giving up.
The film’s only slight downer is the lukewarm soundtrack, which brings in a faint element of cheese. Luckily “Soul Surfer” is a powerful archetypal story first, a surfing movie second, a Christian movie third, and all-in-all an inspirational film you should have a family couch viewing with, along with some homemade popcorn.
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