Bethany Hamilton became a worldwide inspiration for cementing her status as a top pro female surfer despite having only one arm, the other lost in a shark attack. SOUL SURFER is based on the now 21-year-old’s best-selling book about the experience.
AnnaSophia Robb (RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA) plays the young heroine but like those portraying Bethany’s brothers and friends is perfect looking almost to the point of blandness. The real Bethany is cute, not gorgeous, but most of all radiates a magnetism Robb lacks and which is evident in the real-life videos and photos in the end credits, easily the best part of the film. Still, it’s impressive that Robb, like Dennis Quaid who plays her father, learned to surf for many of the scenes, the actual Bethany performing many of the stunts.
When Bethany’s parents Tom (Quaid) and Cheri (Helen Hunt) surf, their three modelesque kids hold up their scores, leading to giggling sand-throwing and my nausea. Such chillingly cutesy moments give The Brandy Bunch’s Hawaiian vacay episode a run for its money. This film could and should have played on a family cable channel.
Almost everyone with speaking parts is white, other than a smiley, fictional boy named Keoki (played by Hispanic actor Cody Gomes) and a laughably evil surfer named Malia (Sonya Balmores). Her snide remarks, dagger-shooting stares and obsession with Bethany makes me wonder why they didn’t just give her a mustache to twirl. Otherwise, dark-skinned faces are relegated to the sidelines. Native Hawaiians hover in the background to provide a racially diverse sheen and oddly, they’re the only people to ever stare at Bethany’s stub. We also see Thai victims of a disaster in Phuket where Bethany volunteers with lots of other blondes.
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