Synopsis
On a small stretch of coastline as powerful as a man's will, Rick Kane came to surf the big waves. He found a woman who would show him how to survive, and a challenge unlike any other.
North Shore
1987 Directed by William Phelps
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I haven't seen this one in a couple of decades, and watching it today I was struck with a startling realization: everything that is good in my life I have because of North Shore.
My brothers and I taped this off of HBO when we were kids and used to watch it every day. We decided that if a dude from Arizona could become a pro surfer, why the hell couldn't a few land-locked Kansans. We sent off for a subscription to Surfer magazine, started skateboarding, and committed to ending every sentence with the word "brah."
For years we obsessed over the sport, and for years were told how absurd and improbable our obsession was, but when I turned seventeen…
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It's a little weird that this is not more known for being a legitimately good-natured and laid back Karate Kid. Cliched external conflict takes a backseat to internal soul-searching which is admirable, and the soul-surfing scenes, scored to tunes that are admittedly a little more typical 80's, are pretty entrancing.
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You can tell when a movie knows what it's talking about vs one whose subject matter is on loan merely for surface appeal. "North Shore" is a special jewel of the former variety, one that lives and breathes surf culture more than most mainstream popcorn flicks that dabble in it for scenic wallpaper value and dime-store philosophizing (*note that does not apply to "Point Break", a masterpiece that may not be as studied on surf jargon and the whole lifestyle as "North Shore" here but is so amazing otherwise that it doesn't matter). We follow an underdog sports story pattern here about a naive kid who moves to Hawaii to go pro on his board, with obligatory side orders of…
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I probably shouldn't even log this because my friend's 2 year-old was climbing all over me, stealing my glasses and just generally making himself the center of attention so I caught maybe 10-15% of what was happening. My friend's kid was hilarious and weird though and gets a full five stars.
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I consider this to be a perfect movie. I obviously understand that it isn't, but I'm like a mother who looks at her ugly child and thinks it's beautiful. To me, it can do no wrong. I'm not going to tell you why I think it's brilliant, (you can easily see for yourself on Netflix instant) instead I will now take a moment to quote some of my favorite lines.
Occy: "Hey...Alex...come jump in with us."
Alex: "Great I love skin diving."Kid: "Scrub it kook!"
Local with the shitty stache: "Hey hoale"
Rick: "Hey, hoale to you too"
Local with the shitty stache: "He's so hoale, he doesn't even know he's hoale, beat it hoale these are our waves."… -
Templated coming-of-age surf tale, hits all the beats, hits them well. Arizona surfer whose only experience is in wave tanks decides to fly to Hawaii the summer before college to surf, but also to learn.
Without all the punishing PTSD of a later contemporary like Blue Crush, this still captures the awe and danger inherent in big wave surfing. Good supporting cast, kind of queer-toned at parts — lotta brotherly/father figure luv and haoles gettin' shoved — but moves in a more spiritual vs. capitalist direction. Weird teen fantasies abound. Wall-to-wall pop sdtrk with multiple songs by Australians Pseudo Echo and Angel City, but also Lords of the New Church.
Matt Adler looks like a furry in a human suit.
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I guess I'm just going to keep going through life surprised by how good surfing movies can be. North Shore isn't exactly Endless Summer or Point Break but again I set the bar low and my expectations were exceeded. Nice 80's teen stuff with symbiotic soul surfing meditations. Good performances by actors I've had scattered exposure to. Matt Adler is cute and only recognizable to me as the wearer of the "What Are You Looking At Dicknose" T-shirt in Teen Wolf. But John Philbin kind of steals the show as Turtle. I'm not even sure if he was supposed to make the character funny but he sure did. At one point he utters the phrase "No one ever listens to Turtle", I nearly fainted. Best of all, it was easy to follow and I was able to crank out two drawings while watching. I guess I'll hang onto this one for a while
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Scrub it, kook!
An impenetrable mush of surfer slang and island accents, and I say that as someone FROM Hawaii. Thankfully, I do speak movies. Pretty sure I'd be at home with a new-in-town/Karate Kid klone even if it were all in Simlish.
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What if Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone had a cocaine baby and the baby decided it wanted to make a surf movie. This is what you get.
I struggled for a long time between, 4, 4-and-a-half, and 5 stars, and I ended with 4, because I am a coward.
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A surf-centric Karate Kid-lite that was released in 1987 but which (between the '80s teen-centric antics and the soundtrack) feels like it was released several years after it was filmed. The best surfer in Arizona (the dorky kid from Teen Wolf, who, alongside the dorky kid from Return of the Living Dead, has reshaped himself into a bronzed + buff surfer dude for this flick) goes to shoot the curl in Hawaii and naturally gets his ass handed to him in every conceivable way until an aging board shaper takes the kid under his wing and shows him what surfing is all about. It's about soul, if you were wondering.
Not much depth here but overall a real chill, low-key hang. And…
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I live in a small beach town in California but don’t surf because I’m no good. I love watching people surf though and I love swimming in the ocean. There really is nothing like it. I know it sounds cliche but something about being in the ocean takes away all your worries and brings a sense of peace to all the bullshit in life.
So while this movie is filled with 80s cheese and some unrealistic plot lines, it’s also a joy to watch. A kook to local fairytale. (Adler, Philbin, and Harrison can actually surf which is a big plus)