Soul Surfer

When you are too close to something it is hard to see things clearly, but when you take a step back and gain some perspective, suddenly things make sense. This is the basic message in Soul Surfer and it tells the story of Bethany Hamilton, a champion surfer who gained international attention when a shark bit off her left arm. With the help of a healthy attitude, a loving family, hard work and an abiding faith, Bethany summands the courage to return to the water and become a professional surfer.
 
Soul Surfer is a faith-based film but it tries so hard to be mainstream that in the beginning I found it bland and watered down. But somewhere in the middle it found its emotional footing and ended up being a decent film. I just wish it could have been stronger from the beginning. Bethany’s recovery was so quick and her success is so amazing that we take for granted all the pain, doubts and insecurities she went through. Faith is a gift, but it must be exercised. I’m afraid that sometimes the film made it look too easy.
 
Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt play a surfing couple that raised their family on the beach in Hawaii. Bethany portrayed by AnnaSophia Robb started surfing at an early age and won her first competition at age eight. At age thirteen and about to go pro, Bethany loses her arm, but within a month, she is back on her surfboard and the following year wins her first national championship.
 
Bethany Hamilton wrote a book about her life, which is fairly straightforward and talks a lot about her Christian faith, but in the film director Sean McNamara when out of his way to find conflict within the family in order to add edge to the production and make it more accessible to a secular audience. But the truth is that this is a Christian family with Christian values and it is this foundation and faith that gives them the strength to endure through this situation. I’m not going to call it a tragedy, because I don’t believe the family ever saw it that way. The fact that their daughter and sister was still alive was a miracle. Learning to live life without an arm was just a challenge.

The film alludes to this by the behavior and attitudes portrayed by the family in the film. Of course there were doubts, flare-ups, and cross words, even Bethany lost her footing a few times, but that is the beauty of the film. The family talked it out, reached out to each other and accepted the support system within their church. They even had a support system within the surfing community. Bethany did not have to go through this alone.

Carrie Underwood makes her film debut as Bethany’s youth pastor and she is an example of someone outside the family that Bethany could share her pain and mis-givings with. The parents had a doctor friend, Craig T. Nelson and Bethany’s surfing coach Kevin Sorbo. All these people contributed to Bethany’s recovery, but I’m sure that Bethany’s relationship with Jesus Christ played the strongest part. Her poise and positive attitude literally saved her life, but it is her faith and courage that got her back on that surfboard. To paraphrase Bethany, “I have learned to embrace more things with one arm than I could ever have with two.” This is a film about victory and a remarkable young woman.

Rating: Bargain Matinee A film about faith and courage