AllMovie

Although its standard-issue plot and dialogue aren't in danger of winning any awards, it's hard not to root for this good-hearted, often thrilling surf flick. Blue Crush is so sure that girls rule that it doesn't waste much time establishing the fact, and its collection of burners and alterna-kids is so rough-edged and authentic that all thoughts of prefab John Hughes suburbia can easily be banished. Instead of faux high-school politics and strident feminism, the film focuses on spectacular footage of extreme surfing, with just enough working-class back story to lend the ESPN-isms dramatic heft. With a chip on her shoulder and some definition in her biceps, model-perfect Kate Bosworth is never less than adequate as pro hopeful Anne Marie, the focus of the story. That ethnically balanced sidekicks Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake would probably make more convincing star athletes is a minor quibble, easily chalked up to cold Hollywood reality. (Besides, it's more fun to watch Rodriguez generate Resident Evil-style lesbian subtext in her supporting role than it would be to see her sidle up to a quarterback beau in the lead.) It's a cliché to say so, but the real stars are the wave-riding action sequences, which seem more like an IMAX documentary than the payoff in a sports-themed romance. Director/screenwriter John Stockwell goes in for a few too many motivational clichés at the end, but once the digitally tweaked Bosworth is in the eye of a swell, Blue Crush is pure action, the script incidental.