Surfer heroine story has some profanity, drinking, drugs.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
some
Underage drinking and smoking. Tween girl drinks and acts drunk at a party. Her older sister finds marijuana pipes in her bedroom. Empty booze bottles in an extremely messy hotel room, and booze vomit shown on the floors and around the toilet.
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Occasional profanity: "horses--t," "s--t," a--hole," "pissed," "bitch," "hell." Middle-finger gesture. Football player gets on a microphone and tells everyone at a luau that his nickname is "p--n daddy." Tween girl calls the Speedo suits a man wears "nut huggers."
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Lead female and male characters shown sleeping together, kissing. While working as maids in a hotel, one of the female lead characters gets a used condom stuck to her shoe; the lead female character puts it in a bucket, takes it to the beach, finds the person responsible, and holds the used condom for everyone to see.
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Lead character haunted by the memory of when she wiped out surfing and hit her head on a coral reef. Lead character gets stuck underwater when her ankle leash gets stuck on a rock. Talk of how the area where the surfing contest is held is the deadliest in the world. Fistfight; male character shown beaten and bloodied.
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Lead character offered a Billabong sponsorship deal.
Positive Messages
some
Women shown competing in surfing, a once male-dominated sport, and standing up to men who say otherwise.
Positive Role Models
some
Anne Marie works hard to achieve her goal of being a champion surfer. She wants to be the first woman on the cover of Surf Magazine.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Blue Crush is a 2002 movie about a young woman in Hawaii determined to be a champion surfer. The lead character, Anne Marie, shows determination and perseverance to overcome the naysayers who don't think she can compete in what has historically been a male-dominated sport. She is also trying to raise her tween little sister, who is now frequently getting into trouble, going to parties, drinking alcohol, and smoking marijuana. Main characters have sex. Some gross-out scenes occur: While working as a maid in a hotel, one of the lead characters steps on a used condom that gets stuck to her shoe. Vomit and excrement are shown in a trashed hotel room. There's some profanity: "s--t," "a--hole," "pissed," "bitch," "hell," "nut hugger," and "p--n." There's also some violence and peril: The memory of Anne Marie wiping out and injuring her head by smashing into a coral reef is shown several times throughout the movie. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
The main role model in this story is a young adult, surfergirl, dropout who is struggling to raise her kid sister and instill values that she isn't exactly living out. Through this story the girls mature and grow together, building a positive relationships and overcoming fears.
Questionable moments in this flick: The young sister does make some poor decisions and is found smoking and drinking and partying. The older sister and friends are housecleaning and find condums in one of the hotel rooms and quit their jobs over the issue.
This movie has a "You can achieve, if you just believe" (I know, corny)message to it. The main character has a handful of obstacles that she has to overcome throughout the movie in order for her to reach her goal, which is to become a professional surfer. She has real life responsibilities including taking care of her younger adolescent sister and paying the bills on time. A true story of struggle and determination. I highly recommend this movie to teens and older.
What's the Story?
Set in Hawaii, BLUE CRUSH centers on Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth), a tough-on-the-outside but vulnerable-on-the-inside surfer girl who has what it takes to be world-class if she can just (1) get over the fear she has had since almost drowning, (2) manage to train for her big chance while supporting herself and her younger sister, and (3) not get distracted by Prince Charming, a cute quarterback named Matt. Pals played by Michele Rodriguez and real-life surfer Sanoe Lake provide support.
Blue Crush offers no special insight or freshness. But oh, the visuals! Hawaii's glorious natural resources, including many very pretty girls in tiny bikinis, are lovingly photographed. The surfing scenes are breathtaking, and the water is the most vivid and memorable character in the movie, but some may find the MTV-style camera tricks annoying.
The three actresses have a nice, easy camaraderie and it's easy to believe that they have lived together forever with a mixture of familial bickering and unquestioned loyalty and understanding. On the other hand, amid the female empowerment, there are some issues that make the characters less than ideal role models. Anne Marie accepts a lot of money ($1,000 for "surfing lessons") and expensive gifts from the quarterback, and has sex with him after knowing him for a couple of days. Still, teen surfing fans will enjoy the ride.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the obstacles Anne Marie must overcome – not just finding a way to support herself and doing all the training, but also overcoming her fears of failing and of succeeding.
How does the movie show the reality of a young woman trying to make a living while raising her rebellious tween sister?
This movie was based on a magazine article called "Surf Girls of Maui." What do you think would be the challenges in taking a magazine article about the life of a group of female surfers in Hawaii and turning that into a movie?
MPAA explanation:
language, drug references, and sexual situations
Last updated:
November 23, 2023
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