Review of Soul Surfer (2011) by Marcdoyle — 20 Apr 2011

I bumped into Bethany Hamilton in the Lihue airport several years back, and she was surrounded by adoring locals. Such a brave person, and it's a really amazing story. I thought the parts with Carrie Underwood were a touch contrived, but because faith is such a big part of the Hamilton family's life, they were appropriate.

Hunt and Quaid are perfect casting choices. The surfing scenes are spectacular. The scene that had the biggest impact on me was the one in which she first comes home from the hospital, realizing some of the new limitation of her condition.

When she realizes that she'll probably never be able to play the guitar again, it absolutely put things in perspective (as a guitar player...