SURFING movies are rare but memorable and while this pioneering effort by Wan Hafiz (of Mat Tudung and Puaka Balai Gombak fame) scrapes the surface of a surfer’s life, it is a feel-good tale of family and friendship worth watching once, if not twice.
The good thing about Surf This Love is its likeable characters (yes, even the jerk), scenic promotions of Tioman island and lack of melodrama, tumultous romance and tear-jerking scenes (despite addressing the death of one character) which are overdone in TV dramas.
Wan Hafiz has chosen the time-tested path of light and easy storytelling, complemented by laidback characters who are natives of Tioman, and a straight-forward plot which, fortunately, leaves out a lot of surfing technicalities that would elude the layman.
What this movie lacks is scenes of surfers up close and personal as they ride roaring waves and demonstrate stylish moves with their surfboards.
While we get to see the hero Billy (a decent and photogenic Shukri Yahaya) and his rival Mike (Josiah Hogan, looking every bit the surfer) swinging on the waves, all scenes are distant and while in action, one cannot figure if it is them or stunt doubles.
And while surfing contains lots of technicalities that may confuse viewers, Wan Hafiz could have given a brief, animated course on what surfers are supposed to do, as director Bernard Chauly did beautifully for futsal in the movie Gol Dan Gincu.
The protagonist Billy is a “beach bum” par excellence. An orphan, he co-owns a travel agency, the Big Lobster with his elder sister Siti (Syuhaida Abraz as yet another zany hothead), but to her annoyance he spends too much time learning to surf.
Billy’s obsession with surfing is in his genes. His late brother Bobby (Mustakim Bahadon in a brief but dignified appearance) was one of Malaysia’s top surfers alongside Jimmy (Pekin Ibrahim) and Mike, and the trio were the renowned Malaysian Surfer Heroes.
This acclaimed trio, however, has seen better days — Bobby died in an accident, while Jimmy quit after injuring his leg and Mike has become famous but cocky.
Sulking Jimmy now runs a surfboard shop and cafe with his fiesty younger sister Lia (Ardell Aryana) and despite countless pleas by Billy to be his student, Jimmy says the youngster is “not one with the waves”.
Jimmy, however, changes his mind when reigning world champion Mike returns to Tioman and belittles him. He is also spurred by the fact that Mike has two-timed his fiancee, travel blogger Mia (eye candy all the way Cristina Suzanne Stockstill) who happens to be his younger sister’s best friend and Billy’s client.
Billy, who values Mia’s advice on pursuing his dream and being true to himself, also finds a reason to “beat” Mike. The accident which took Bobby’s life was indirectly due to Mike’s selfishness.
Shukri, who normally plays prim and proper heroes on the small screen, has beefed up with lots of gym work and allowed his hair to grow long and wavy to play Billy.
While he loses out to Josiah’s Mike in terms of physique, he can pass off as a “friend of the waves”, and his speech which resembles the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is just what American proponents of the sport have.
Josiah’s Mike may have his bad traits, but viewers will still respect him because they see his “loneliness at the top” and feel his pain for causing his friend’s death.
Mia and Lia are strong female characters who prod Billy and Jimmy respectively into keeping their dreams alive. Mia is admirable when she chooses to forgive the “other woman” in Mike’s life while baby-faced Lia displays maturity, telling off Jimmy to practise what he preaches.
Pekin’s Jimmy steals the show with his cranky philosophy for surfers to revere nature. For instance, when he chastises Billy for spanking a coconut tree outside his shop.
Shot over 25 days in Pantai Juara, Tioman island as well as another 14 in Bali two years ago, Surf This Love is a romantic comedy with lots of meaningful messages such as being humble, working hard and persevering, respecting family and friends, and always staying true to oneself.
Bobby sums it up nicely when he tells Jimmy and Billy that “pain is pleasure and struggle is success” and “to become successful, a surfer must possess a heart bigger than the waves”.
Wan Hafiz’s pioneering effort is certainly a big wave of fun.
NOW SHOWING
SURF THIS LOVE
DIRECTED by Wan Mohamad Hafiz Wan Hussain
STARRING Shukri Yahaya, Cristina Suzanne Stockstill, Pekin Ibrahim, Josiah Hogan, Ardell Aryana, Mustakim Bahadon, Syuhaida Abraz
DURATION 103 minutes
RATING P13