“We are all born from the sea,” Gerard Butler growls as a start to the pretentious myth-making of surfing biopic Chasing Mavericks. The film takes the real life story of surfing prodigy Jay Moriarty, who tamed the grammatically awkward super-wave Mavericks at just 16, and coats it all with so much moralistic spiritualism and family values nonsense that it’s surprising characters don’t just quote Bible verses. Butler plays the mentor to Jay (Jonny Weston), one of every single character who’s inspired and bettered just by being in Moriarty’s shining presence. There’s also an amazing amount of emphasis placed on the always exciting act of essay writing. Chasing Mavericks wants to inspire everyone to “live like Jay,” but that’s it’s problem. It’s all message and no meat.
This article appears in Nov 1-7, 2012.