Review of Soul Surfer (2011) by Mike M — 25 Sep 2011

Disney have their eye on the same churchy demographic "The Blind Side" (and, to a lesser extent, their own "Secretariat") was aiming at, and we may have cause to wonder when wholesome family entertainment became synonymous with holier-than-thou entertainment.

That said, the film itself remains a sweet and - who knows? - possibly even inspirational tale about a teenage girl with more body issues than is usual to wrestle with: as Bethany's parents, Quaid and Helen Hunt are warmer and more engaged than they really need to be, and Robb gives a credibly tough and winning reading, never begging for our sympathies unduly.

Yes, it's a 12A Disney movie, which means it goes easy on the despair (having questioned how the accident could be considered "part of God's plan", Bethany is observed smiling and suntanned in the very next scene), the sooner to get its heroine back on the water, yet the entire second act moves in unexpected, if not quite mysterious, ways.

Here, Bethany hands over her boards to her fans and sets out to Thailand to assist in the clean-up following the Asian Tsunami, in effect swapping one exhilarating set of waves for another, more destructive kind.

In this stretch, the initial deluge of Christian imagery, its relentless message of compassion and tolerance, comes to make a sincere, if simplistic, sort of sense: this was, after all, a story about somebody who came to practice what had been repeatedly preached to them.

If aspects of Bethany's final triumph remain predictable (such as the emergence of a hunky male best friend who sees her for the remarkable young woman she is, whether one-armed or two) the whole stands as entirely acceptable sleepover fare - though any secular humanists in your pyjama party may prefer 2002's "Blue Crush", which hit the beach in a far less whitebread fashion, and wasn't so insistent on hanging ten with Jesus.