The Surfer
A middle-aged man (Nicolas Cage) on the verge of attaining his dream of buying his childhood home on a cliff overlooking Luna Bay brings his teenaged son (Finn Little, TV's 'Yellowstone') to its beach to sample the waves, but before they can get into the water, he's shoved, they're sworn at and warned that if they 'don’t live here, don’t surf here.' The man retreats to his Lexus, but in the next twenty-four hours, his life will spiral out of control all because he wanted to reclaim his youthful idea of himself as "The Surfer."
Laura's Review: B
Inspired by the 'localism' he's witnessed in the surfing culture, writer Thomas Martin has fashioned another tale of Australian macho intimidation, one which director Lorcan Finnegan ("Vivarium") has stylized into something like the "Beach Blanket Bingo" version of "Wake in Fright" with its glittery sunlit highlighting of its star to the sound of bell-like synthesizers and theremin-like human vocalization (music by François Tétaz, "Wolf Creek"). It's an offbeat approach and for a while it works, but the film shoots itself in the foot as it reaches the finish line.
In short order we'll learn that the man's $1.6 million bid on his house isn't going to close the deal and he'll have 48 hours to come up with another $100K. His boss is pressuring him to come into the office to handle a high stakes client which he promises to do the next morning. His wife Helen
(voice of Brenda Meaney) calls upset that their son was not in school and we'll learn she wants him to sign divorce papers. A down-on-his luck guy (Nicholas Cassim, "The Moogai") posting missing flyers for his dog tells the man he believes the surf gang leader killed it. When he asks a guy delivering a huge pile of pizzas if he can buy one, the delivery guy demands $100. The man caves and hands over the money, but when he turns around for a minute, he finds his food face down on the pavement. When the surfers steal his surf board, the man's had more than enough and calls the cops, but the one who shows up (Justin Rosniak) claims that the surf board now hanging over the surfer's shack has been there for years and he seems pretty chummy with Scally (Julian McMahon, TV's 'Nip/Tuck'), the surf gang leader the man now realizes, once named, he went to high school with. Things get progressively worse, the man now resembling that down and out guy, his realtor (Rahel Romahn, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga") claiming to not know him.
Psychological unravelling is a Cage specialty and he's quite effective here as we share his torment, his performance reined in compared to the extreme nature of events. Instead of outright lunacy, Cage delivers beaten down despair. Cinematographer Radek Ladczuk ("The Babadook," "The Peasants") pushes a palette of bright yellow and deep blue-green, heightening the natural paradise into a dreamlike unreality. His visuals have been expertly complemented by musical choices which also exaggerate the genre. Finnegan was going for something very specific here, and stylistically, at least, he's done it very well. But the film's last act, while delivering a twist, a victory of sorts, leaves us wondering just how that victory is supposed to pan out considering the ruination that has preceded it. Or has our man just become what he really was all along? That's an intriguing consideration, but one which remains as murky as choppy surf.
Robin's Review: B
A man and his teenage son arrive at the beach of the man’s youth. He has the chance to buy his grandfather’s house overlooking the beach and all seems idyllic. Then, the locals refuse to let the outsiders surf their beach and throw them out. This begins the man’s quest to get what he came for in “The Surfer.”
For some strange reason, while watching Nic Cage chew scenery as the titular character, I kept on thinking of the Frank Perry 1968 film with Burt Lancaster, “The Swimmer.” Maybe because both protagonists are obsessed, almost to the point of possession, with their individual goal. And, those goals are not as they originally seem.
The Man takes his son, the Kid (Finn Little), to surf the beach of his youth that is packed with special memories. As they head to the beach with their boards, dad is happy as can be, then, they, literally, bump into a local surfer who warns “no surfees” for outsiders. Another encounter and things almost come to blows, until the leader of the local surf cult, Scally (Julian McMahon) gives him a bit of “friendly” advice – go away.
Things ramp up after he takes the Kid home and goes back to the beach to set things straight. After all, it is not like the Man is an outsider. He grew up there. But that does not make a difference to Scully and his thugs. Things rapidly escalate to vandalism, harassment, car theft, ripping off his watch and phone and being told by the police to get out of town.
With Nic Cage in the lead, you know exactly where this tome of desire and revenge will play out. The ramping up of tensions gets a little wacky as the story plays out, but that is exactly what is expected in this battle of wills. Of course, Cage does the not-so-slow burn as he is insulted and humiliated in front of his son.
You pretty much know where this is going with Cage giving a patented rage-in-progress performance and the bad guys being really bad – they steal the Man’s surfboard and proudly mount it over their shack to taunt him. There are no real surprises, just a good guy, very flawed, getting justice over the bad guys in the end.
Roadside Attractions releases "The Surfer" in theaters on 5/2/25.
