Just finished watching Soul Surfer.
True story about Bethany Hamilton. Ms. Hamilton lost an arm to a tiger shark, yet came back, surfed as a pro, and has towed into Jaws, some of the biggest waves on the planet.
Acting is ok. Film work is horrible. Constant cutting, failing to show any consistency. Seems like the same guys that made Big Wednesday made this.
Hollywood can't seem to manage to use a spot for a surfing event, and stay there.
Just one example:
The last contest in the movie is supposed to be at Sunset Beach.
Most of the beach shots are done at Wiamea Bay, a place I know, since I was married at the church there, and surfed the place everyday I could, for 10 years.
Most of the water shots, as inconsistent in size as they are, are at Makaha Point. I lived on the point, in the Makaha Shores for two years, and my family owned two condos there. Makaha is an excellent wave, breaking RIGHT.
The last wave of the contest by Bethany Hamilton is large, looks incredibly fake, due to the worst blue screen cgi I've ever seen in a movie. It then cuts to an actual wave that looks a bit less fake, but, is clearly Pipeline, a LEFT barrel.
The beauty of the Hawaiian Islands and the memories these places evoke are totally screwed with by the horrible cutting, and total disregard for sequence. I don't really get why they can't just shoot one contest at one place, and, stay with it.
Here is a shot of moi in some rather fun Hawaiian surf, at a place called Hammerheads:
