It’s the film’s prevailing melodrama that is its undoing, a relentless interest in making things as sad, depressing, and overly heightened in order to show how pure Moriarity was. But is that characterization of him an accurate reflection of how hard he worked, how much he strived? At around 16 years old, Moriarity was making a name for himself surfing the Mavericks, an exceptionally difficult location in Northern California that gets monster waves because of an unusual rock formation on the coast. Moriarity threw himself fully into life (which may have contributed to his death at 22, a free diving accident), but that doesn’t necessarily mean he was an angelic do-gooder. He was a real person. “Chasing Mavericks” doesn’t portray him as one.
Instead, Jay (played by Jonny Weston) is the best person in his family, among his circle of friends, and probably in his entire community. Although his father left years ago and his mother (Elisabeth Shue, of “House at the End of the Street” and “Hope Springs”) is an irresponsible, noncommittal alcoholic, Jay works to escape their influence. But alas! They are not the only disappointing people in his midst. There’s also his best friend Blond (Devin Crittenden), who is becoming increasingly addicted to drugs, and his longtime crush Kim (Leven Rambin), who seems to flirt with every guy but him.
No one is nearly as zen or committed to surfing as Jay, but he takes things to another level once he discovers the secret of Mavericks and decides to surf there. And so he seeks out the help of local surfing legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler, of “Machine Gun Preacher” and “How to Train Your Dragon”), who dislikes children in general but eventually decides to shoulder helping Jay. They only have a few weeks (in real life, the pair trained for two years) to get Jay ready for facing off against the Mavericks’ five-story-high waves, but Frosty stresses that Jay must learn the “four pillars of life” beforehand, including observing everything, controlling your fear, and never giving into panic. Only once he’s mastered those topics will he be ready.
So, “The Karate Kid” set in the ocean? Basically. There’s something about “Chasing Mavericks” that doesn’t connect as much as what Daniel and Mr. Miyagi went through, however, even though this film is based on a true story and “The Karate Kid” wasn’t. Perhaps it’s because “Chasing Mavericks” suffers under the heavy hand of writer Kario Salem, who jumbles in so many other vague subplots that the main story about Jay suffers. Blond is doing drugs! Blond is dealing drugs! Blond is ruining his life! Similar material is given to Jay’s mother and his love interest, so the film feels overly formulaic and superficial. Delving into what drives Jay, what surfing does to him and how he balances his optimism and fear, aren’t given nearly enough time.
And because the film follows an accelerated schedule of Jay’s and Frosty’s partnership, things don’t seem to carry as much weight; when Jay’s first foray into Mavericks equals his first big-time opportunity, it doesn’t really feel like he’s earned it. In real life, Jay surfed the Mavericks for eight months before the moment of him teetering on top of a giant wave immortalized him in the surfing community (a photo of him appeared on the cover of Surfer magazine afterward; it’s terrifying and awe-inspiring, and you should Google it). “Chasing Mavericks” would have done better to include more of that struggle to really show viewers what hard work the sport requires.
To be fair, there have been a few other surfing movies that have hit the big time—the Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves thriller “Point Break” being my favorite—and “Chasing Mavericks” does trump them visually, with cinematography that captures the allure and horror of those huge waves. But in contrast, “Point Break” got some of the emotional themes of the surfing culture right: the adrenaline, the spontaneity, the need to prove something more to yourself than to others. “Chasing Mavericks” can’t convey those same types of feelings, and does Moriarity a disservice. The film means well, but it feels like a wipeout.
