“The Surfer” is its personal worst enemy.
- Give Nicolas Cage the form of out-sized function that no person does higher.
- Arrange a grossly unfair battle that screams for a kinetic, “Mandy”-sized finale.
- And, halfway by, recommend we’d not get what we’re anticipating.
What’s to not love? Loads.
“The Surfer’s” epic collapse wouldn’t be so maddening if we hadn’t been arrange for an epic Cage story even by his curious requirements.
Cage stars as The Surfer, a separated father wanting to introduce his son to the Australian seashore the place he as soon as made waves. The teenager (Finn Little) isn’t taken with Dad’s plan, a foul signal that shortly grows worse.
The locals don’t take kindly to strangers browsing their waves. This motley crew is led by Julian McMahon of “Nip/Tuck” fame. They’re a rambunctious bunch, loud and bullying, and the Surfer has no selection however to ditch his plans.
Besides he refuses to depart the scene. He’s thisclose to purchasing a house on the seashore, and he could must up his supply to seal the deal. It’s clear Cage’s character has sizable baggage floating on the roiling waves, and we study his tortured backstory piece by piece.
Seems the torture has solely begun.
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A collection of indignities greet our unhappy surfer, and we begin to surprise what’s actual and what’s lurking in his creativeness.
Director Lorcan Finnegan (“Vivarium”) suggests our Surfer isn’t probably the most dependable narrator. The movie’s visuals double down on that method, conserving us off-balance, and even woozy. You would possibly wipe imaginary sweat off your forehead as sunshine floods the display, courtesy of Radek Ladczuk’s bleak cinematography.
Creepy closeups. Distorted lenses. And, in fact, an more and more raveled Surfer. The one sadder sack on the seashore is a homeless man who will get bullied by the identical thugs making the surfer’s life depressing.
The place is all of it going? What’s Finnegan and co. attempting to say? It’s simple to suss out the story’s poisonous masculinity angle, however to what finish?
Halfway by, the surfer’s struggling begins to lose its enchantment. This is sort of a torture porn film with out the bloodshed, however “The Surfer” will need to have one thing in thoughts for the third act.
Probably not. The story takes a stupefying time period meant to elucidate a lot of what preceded it, and it crumbles upon even a cursory look. It additionally demolishes a number of the themes “The Surfer” delicately assembles.
Fatherhood. Generational trauma. Remorse. Loss. Rebirth.
Sure, Cage could be delicate in his performances in between surroundings gnashing. That’s the case right here, and he doesn’t deserve the blame for the story’s implosion. This script is misplaced at sea when it issues most.
What a disgrace.
A lot of “The Surfer” is the form of bracing, genuine storytelling we crave in cookie-cutter Hollywood. That makes its failure all of the extra confounding.
HiT or Miss: “The Surfer” is a full-on fever dream headed by the very best actor potential for the gig. What a disgrace it crumbles simply once we assume it’ll soar.