Review of Soul Surfer (2011) by Ermy B — 05 Dec 2011

There's no denying that Bethany Hamilton's story is an inspiring one, but if you like your movies with a lot of cheese and corn, well then this is the movie for you. This is one of those types of movies that really would've been a better documentary instead of a live action film.

There's already a documentary about her out there, so this is the next best thing. It's just full of cheesy and cliched dialogue. The performance from Annasophia Robbing is particularly strong, everyone else is acceptable, the problem is that the movie tries to do this thing where Bethany's loss put strain on the family and it was literally ONE scene at the hospital, that's all they really did.

The rest was Bethany adjusting to life without her arm, and it's fine that they did that, but don't throw in how it's also straining the family, if you're doing nothing with it. Unfortunately, I just don't think the movie does the real story justice.

In fact the highlight of the movie is, when the credits play, they have footage of the real people. That's the only really good thing about the movie and pretty much lends credence to what I said about it being a better documentary.

Anyway outside of some highlights, which are minor really, this movie is a complete and utter let down.