Soul Surfer

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David B. Great movie! Surfing is real. Heartfelt performances from Helen Hunt, AnnaSophia Robb and Dennis Quaid. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/25/25 Full Review Aurela S Movies based on real life are my favorites. You get to see what people have been through and it touches you in ways you never thought possible. Lived the move and have seen it a dozen times. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/28/24 Full Review SkyRo P While not reaching the status of a cinematic masterpiece, "Soul Surfer" effectively portrays the moving journey of a young girl facing life-threatening challenges, eliciting deep emotional responses from viewers. Despite potential areas for improvement in overall quality, the strong performances by the cast, including a surprisingly commendable effort from Carrie Underwood, contribute to the film's impact. The movie serves as a poignant reminder of how seemingly minor events can snowball into significant life-altering moments, emphasizing the importance of appreciating the small things. Rather than vilifying predators like sharks, "Soul Surfer" encourages understanding their behavior in their natural habitat, promoting a more nuanced perspective. The exceptional performances by the cast, alongside Underwood's notable foray into acting, add layers of authenticity and depth to the storytelling. The film offers a unique glimpse into Underwood's early acting endeavors, showcasing her talent during the early stages of her career. Overall, "Soul Surfer" presents a compelling true story that goes beyond being simply a "girl flick" or a "shark flick." It is a movie worth watching for its emotional resonance, inspiring narrative, and the valuable lessons it imparts. I recommend giving it a try to experience its impactful storytelling and powerful performances. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/27/24 Full Review Emilliano Jr S An inspiring cheesy drama. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/19/23 Full Review Matthew D An inspiring surfer recovery ruined by religious propaganda. Director Sean McNamara's surfing sports drama Soul Surfer (2011) is both touching and annoying in a really mixed bag. I appreciate McNamara's beautiful filmmaking for the underwater swimming and surfing huge waves as well as his tender approach to family drama. Bethany's outstanding surfing skills, moving surfing recovering after her shark attack, and support from her father especially is quite touching. The strange and sudden discussions about the power of God, prayer, and faith feel out of nowhere relative to the surfing movie Soul Surfer should have been at heart. However, Soul Surfer essentially is a religious propaganda movie more than just a film telling the actually inspiring real-life story of one-armed surfer Bethany Hamilton. I cannot abide by the Hallmark quality scenes of corny faith pushing for the sake of trying to get audience members to believe in God. I really found these scenes tasteless, hamfisted, and distracting. These scenes could have been about Bethany's love of surfing, desire to return to the waves, and appreciating the water like other surfing classics such as Big Wednesday or Blue Crush. Instead we're subjected to Christian propaganda with these hopelessly awkward faith counselor talks with Carrie Underwood, who is so terrible as an actress. I thought she felt like she was in an entirely different movie. Why does Soul Surfer have a ridiculous amount of writers? There is Douglas Schwartz, Michael Berk, Brad Gann, Caleb Wilson, Matt Allen, Sean McNamara, Deborah Schwartz, Sheryl Berk, Rick Bundschuh, and Bethany Hamilton herself. Did we need 10 different writers to say to keep following your dreams and believe in God, Bethany? Casting director Joey Paul Jensen got several excellent actresses and actors, then several random actors that could have been better suited. AnnaSophia Robb is the reason I revisited Soul Surfer and she's gorgeous, endearing, cool, and moving as one-armed surfer Bethany Hamilton. AnnaSophie Robb is an underrated actress so deftly delivering natural, emotional acting. She made me want to root for Bethany's return to surfing. She's so hot in Soul Surfer and comes across as genuinely sweet and considerate. Helen Hunt is pretty awful in Soul Surfer as Bethany's supportive, but worried surfer mother Cheri Hamilton. Dennis Quaid is awesome as Bethany's kind and understanding surfer father Tom Hamilton. His inspirational quotes for Bethany feel sincere and come from the heart. Besides AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid has the next best performance in Soul Surfer. Carrie Underwood is bafflingly bad and flatly delivering her lines as the not so inspirational faith leader Sarah Hill. Kevin Sorbo is very nice as Holt Blanchard with his life saving actions and patient understanding for Bethany. I think Sorbo is actually wasted in all those horrendous Christian propaganda movies. He can clearly act well here in Soul Surfer. Ross Thomas and Chris Brochu are nice as Bethany's protective and guilt stricken older brothers Noah and Timmy Hamilton, respectively. Lorraine Nicholson is quite pretty and fun as Bethany's best friend and fellow surfer Alana Blanchard. I found it super weird how Soul Surfer paints her as a friend who disappears from Bethany's life for awhile until they rekindle their friendship. Sonia Balmores Chung is insanely hot and weirdly mean as Bethany's rival surfer Malina Birch. Her surfing is awesome and she is one of the best actresses in Soul Surfer. Craig T. Nelson is basically like the only doctor on the entire island of Hawaii as Dr. David Rovinsky. I liked the actual archival footage of Bethany Hamilton and Alana Blanchard surfing in real life. Editor Jeff Canavan has fairly normal, if forgettable editing. The surfing montages are more impressive than the soap opera level dramatic cuts. Cinematographer John R. Leonetti shoots these stylish underwater shots for paddling and swimming besides the stunning surfing sequences. I love the close-up and medium shots of AnnaSophia Robb or Sonia Balmores Chung. I don't get why the scenes with Carrie Underwood are so poorly shot though. Visual effects artist Dan Schmit creates one truly awful shark attack in terrible CGI even for 2011. Composer Marco Beltrami created a lovely film score with soft melodies and a heartwarming sound. Makeup artist Ronnie Specter really does nice work for AnnaSophia Robb, Lorraine Nicholson, and Sonia Balmores Chung. I loved Joy Zapata and Mary Ann Changg's hairstyling for all the actresses. In short, Soul Surfer is a standard surfing movie that I have a fondness for because of AnnaSophia Robb's lovely lead actress performance. It is essentially a 112 minute Christian propaganda movie besides the more fun surfing sequences. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Powerful and beautiful life messages throughout this true account of Bethany Hamilton’s life. I can’t watch this film without full on sobbing at both the inspirational moments, and the heartbreaking ones. One of my favorite films ever. The soundtrack is perfect, especially the final song Athlete by The Unknown. Perfectly cast as well! Anna Sophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, and Helen Hunt give exceptional performances. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Soul Surfer

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