LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

cinemajesty The final film directed by Curtis Hanson (before his death in 2016), who could deliver with films as "L.A. Confidential" (1997) and "8 Mile" (2002) in the past, was not able to see his vision for "Chasing Mavericks" through in the season 2011/2012, so that fellow director Michael Apted needed to finish the picture in order to make the U.S. release date on October 26th 2012 for Fox 2000 Pictures (an affiliate of 20th Century Fox). The result misses a directorial signature and further gripping situations to connect with an audience. A typical story of living the American dream beyond borders and restrictions in case of character of Jay Moriarity, performed by an pale to faceless looking commoner Jonny Wetson, who gets mentored by the surfing legend Frosty Hesson, portrayed by an distressed looking Gerard Butler. Both actors can not build the chemistry to bring "Chasing Mavericks" to life. Instead the movie drips through sequences of beautifully shot point-break-waves and underwater scenes, which feel disconnected from any character evolution.The main character's purpose or better to obsession of chasing the perfect wave, the maverick, gets neglected through uninspired screen-writing by Kario Salem, who gives the Jay Moriarity the all-too-well-known treatments of being absent from school, working for his surf board, getting to know the girl of his dreams and must fight off an far from hostile looking bully gang.In between Jay meets with mentor Frosty to analyze waves, write reports on his observations and gets the occasional free meal, because his mother, performed by an recalling "Leaving Las Vegas" Elisabeth Shue, is unable to take care of her son and build a proper relationship, which towards the end of the movie fades away into oblivion.All the relationship in "Chasing Mavericks" seem underdeveloped. Character conflicts feel close to indifferent to the audience. Nevertheless there had been a chance to make the relationship between Jay & Frosty charged-enough to build some kind of suspense for Maverick-riding-final, when Frosty's wife dies under him on an occasional visit by Jay at their house. The young and the old man have no common moment to deal with Frosty's loss, which would have build a connection to the opening sequence rescue by Frosty, who pulls out death-seeking, reckless-behaving Jay out of the water of razor-sharp rocks all-around to become his substituted father.Hard to recover, who directed what in this picture, so "Chasing Mavericks" stands there as an rare example, when over-exhausted artists get to the point of giving up their profession for the sake of a peace-seeking homestead. The conclusion of "Chasing Mavericks" is unsatisfactory and underlines the fact that a director needs to be in his full state of power and balance to take a movie production on, which deals with the dream of self-fulfillment itself.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

therunner42 This film came to my attention after one of the students in my year 9 English. class insisted I watch it. I haven't been near my surfboard in five years but I reluctantly gave the movie a go. Chasing Mavericks is a beautifully told story about real life big wave surfer Jay Moriarity. The film begins when Jay's neighbour and eventual mentor Frosty Hesson (played by Gerard Butler) saves a young Jay from drowning. Jay convinces Frosty into teaching him how to surf the once in ten year big waves (aptly named Mavericks) but they end up teaching each other a lot more than just surfing. It is a compelling true story that will just break your heart. Stand-out performances are made by the leads and also Frosty's wife (Abigail Spencer), Jay's struggling mother (Elisabeth Shue) and Jay's girlfriend (Leven Rambin who looks like a young Elle Mcpherson in this role). Surfers will adore this movie but so will anybody who likes to get lost in a good story. Be warned though if you have a surfboard buried in your garage you'll be hunting for it the moment the final credits roll.

anthonyfarr00 I am amazed that this movie came and went out of the theater so fast one year ago. Seemed like the critics were not into this one from the get-go which, basically, killed it before it had a chance. It's obvious they look like complete fools, which most happen to be. C'mon, to be able to write a review on a movie you just watched is not rocket science. In fact, it's not even as difficult as my 6th grade Physical Science class. I'm writing one at this moment and most people can.There's one thing that only a baby's handful of people can do: surf the largest and most dangerous wave on the entire planet: MAVERICKS!! This is a very special place to me. I went to college in San Francisco starting in 1991 and lived there for 10 years, but I grew up in Orange County, CA and was a surfer. We always thought the waves in SoCal were the best in California. We sure were ignorant. I didn't surf as much in NorCal because the water is frigid and it gets big and nasty. I lived in an apartment on campus the first semester, and was assigned 3 other roommates, which two of them surfed.Most of the time we went to Ocean Beach in SF because the school was very close. We were only 20 miles from Half Moon Bay which is where Mavericks breaks. I lived there during an El Nino year, 1994, and went to watch. What a sight to see! The surfer has never been given the respect and praise that is due to them. (I'm not saying they're asking for it either) People ought to be able to see that they are the world's greatest athletes by far. They are in the best shape because if they aren't, they will drown. They are also the strongest just from paddling through sets of waves every day. They are the toughest. Try surfing beaches in Santa Cruz if you're not a local and see what happens. They are fearless and very intelligent. They don't care about marketing, bling, cars, etc. All they care about are waves.Like Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) says in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, "...surfing's not a sport, it's a way of life, it's no hobby. It's a way of looking at that wave and saying, 'Hey bud, let's party!" The movie hit it perfectly. The acting was spot on for the type of people you'll meet in Santa Cruz. The writing was excellent and did not get corny like most true stories or sports type movies. It was not over-dramatized which was cool. Of course, the shots of Mavericks when it's huge was gorgeous. My favorite thing about this whole movie were the surfing scenes at Mavericks. I always get goose bumps, and I was even yelling encouragements at the TV. The soundtrack was excellent even though most were released after 1987. I thought it was great that there was a Butthole Surfer's song playing during the scene when the antagonist drops in on another guys wave and pushes him off his board. Very clever.See this movie if you haven't already. It's fantastic. If you don't like it, then you're hopeless like all the smart critics. Get some Kleenex.

SnoopyStyle Jay Moriarity (Jonny Weston) is a young surfer with an absentee father. He finds a father figure in Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) who would teach young Jay the character to ride the giant waves that sometimes come near his Santa Cruz home.This is reasonable coming of age young man story. Newcomer Jonny Weston is surprisingly functional as the sweet young man. Gerard Butler does well as a father figure. The minor problem is the lack of real drama. There is an attempt at it by creating difficulties with the girlfriend Kim (Leven Rambin). The problem is the clunky teenager dialog. It alternates between poignant and hokey.The best part has to be surfing the powerful waves. The roar of the ocean is deafening. The weight of the waves really translate onto the screen. All in all, it's a likable movie that has some unrealized potential.