Join us for a rewatch of the first true summer of Hollywood’s strange new millennium.
DARREN:I’m a beach boy, Leah, so I’ve been waiting forBlue Crushall summer.
Give this surfer odyssey extra points for extra stakes.
Everett Collection
Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) is an Oahu prodigy just days away from her Pipeline Masters debut.
But her housekeeping resort gig can’t cover the phone bill, the electricity bill,andthe rent.
Anne Marie is tormented by nasty face-smashing-on-rock memories of a near-drowning that derailed her teen surf career.
Everett Collection
Her best friend and roommate, Eden (Michelle Rodriguez), thinks she’s slacking on pipe prep.
Her other best friend and roommate, Lena (Sanoe Lake), is… chill.
Blue Crushlooks gorgeous, because Hawaii is gorgeous.
At best, it’s a leisurely hang.
But Rodriguez brings a bit of fire as the resident shaper who thinks cutie Matt is a distraction.
“Stop being such a Barbie!”
I can’t decide if the romance is forgivably lame or unforgivably lame.
DidBlue Crushsoar like a jet ski for you, Leah, or did it tumble into the reef?
And how amazing is it thatNew Yorkerwriter Susan Orlean inspired this movie and Charlie Kaufman’sAdaptationin the same year?
And where else do these girls have to go?
That, and the natural chemistry of the cast, feels like a big reason why theCrushcult endures.
But as a more land-bound kind of man, Darren, was that your takeaway?
DARREN:I love theDogtowncomparison, and I think you’re right to compare the films' scrappy edge.
A lot of the central worries have a slice-of-life plotlessness.
Penny parties a bit much.
A local surf crew freaks out when Mike surfs their break.
Anne Marie runs afoul of Mike’s pal’s preening wives and girlfriends.
These are big moments that could be movie-length Issues, butBlue Crushamiably cruises past them.
Friendship, determination, raw athleticism, bikinis: How did this film not make $200 million?
was not exactly the kind of high-stakes blockbuster storytelling that was dominating summers 20 years ago.
In that sense, Bosworth strikes me as being way luckier than most young actors today.
It sounded to me like a more curated mix of very-of-the-moment anthems thananymovie we’ve talked about this summer.
Is it embarrassing to admit that I really liked the P.O.D.
They were, theywere, the youth of the nation!
Sing to me of low-rise pants and Motorola Razrs!
Tell me your AOL Messenger tales!
(“It would be great if that girl were me, but any girl would do.")
Anyways, I digress.
This is a lot of words, Darren, for a movie that honestly just makes me happy.
But slather me inSex Waxand drop me into aNintendo-face barrel; there will only ever be one trueBlue.
Read past 2002 rewatches:
