Inspirational ‘Soul Surfer’ goes beneath the surface

April 8, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Photo by: Mario Perez

Photo

In this film publicity image released by TriStar Pictures, Dennis Quaid, AnnaSophia Robb, center, and Helen Hunt are shown in a scene from "Soul Surfer." (AP Photo/TriStar Pictures, Mario Perez)

Movie

Soul Surfer

"Soul Surfer" is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through her sheer determination and unwavering faith. In the wake of this life-changing event that took her arm and nearly her life, Bethany's feisty determination and steadfast beliefs spur her toward an adventurous comeback that gives her the grit to turn her loss into a gift for others.

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By Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

“Soul Surfer” is the best faith-based film ever made, an uplifting, entertaining and wonderfully acted account of surfer Bethany Hamilton’s life before and after a shark bit her arm off in the waters off her favorite Hawaiian beach.

It’s corny in all the right ways, from the voice over narration in which Bethany (AnnaSophia Robb of “Race to Witch Mountain”) explains how she was “born” to do this and the surfer’s credo that kept her going after that fateful day — “Life is an adventure, and sometimes you wipe out and land in the impact zone.”

Co-writer/director Sean McNamara, a veteran of many a TV show, TV movie and “Bring It On” sequel, recreates Hamilton’s seaside Hawaiian life, complete with surfing siblings and surfing parents. A coup; landing Oscar winner Helen Hunt to play the mom and the always athletic Dennis Quaid as the dad.

Bethany and her best friend Alana (Lorraine Nicholson) are rising starlets on the local surfing scene, friendly competitors with endorsements lined up. They’re like sisters, going to the same open-air church, both members of the same youth group led by Sarah, winningly played by singer Carrie Underwood. Sarah sings in the pop-gospel group at church and tries to get the girls to think about their priorities — “Get a new perspective” — especially when it comes to volunteering on youth missions.

But the girls are all about time on the water, and that (with digital trickery polishing their surfing skills) is accompanied by foreshadowing. Arresting, faintly menacing underwater shots show how vulnerable one is while paddling out to sea on a surfboard.

And sure enough, 22 minutes into “Soul Surfer,” there’s a shark attack. In a moving, alarming and electric six-minute-long sequence, we see the bite, the quick reaction of those with Bethany (Kevin Sorbo is wonderfully credible as Alana’s save-the-day surfing dad), the nerve-wracking race to the hospital and the panic in her parents.

The voiceover narration breaks up the flow from time to time. And the movie is perhaps a bit too intent on capitalizing on having Underwood in the cast, building up her role.

The religious subtext is handled as lightly as you’d expect in a movie about surfers.

If you followed news accounts of Bethany’s story, you know she’s one tough young lady.

“Surfer” goes beyond the news to show her inspiring spirit and the soul that surfing, and her faith, have given her.