Worth: $12.00
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Cast:
Luke Hemsworth, Rasmus King, Isabel Lucas, Savannah La Rain, Leeanna Walsman
Intro:
… a story with heart that fails, despite its best efforts, to really catch the wave.
The two-word title is appropriate for this new Aussie drama, as they are the main characters’ names and this is a story of a father-son relationship. It is a relationship marred, as we see all too plainly, by profoundly damaging choices on behalf of the father who is called Bosch. But then maybe it speaks to many in the audience when it suggests that good parenting is very hard. It involves setting boundaries as much as just being a good ‘mate’ to your kid in intermittent bouts of roughhouse sentimentality.
Bosch is played by Luke Hemsworth. He is a handsome freewheeling kind of guy, a ‘typical’ Aussie male in a way. He also likes to smoke a lot of dope, and this is partly because he is in with the growers and the whole weed economy underwrites his life.
The film is set in a region of Northern New South Wales (around Byron Bay) famous not only for its sun-drenched beaches but also for its, er, informal economy based on the huge cash crops in the immediate hinterland. The growers aren’t a sophisticated bunch, and they rely on a hippyish sort of honour system which leaves them time for their other passion which is surfing.
Young Rockit (played rather engagingly by newcomer Rasmus King) loves surfing too. He also loves the freedom to grow his hair really long and not worry too much about turning up to school. His dad probably learned from the university of life, and he feels that will be good enough for Rockit. This masks another truth that he is often too busy or too stoned to really do much parenting. His embittered ex-wife (Isabel Lucas) certainly feels this is the case. The inciting incident comes when some ridiculously corrupt local cops insist Bosch branches out into the deadlier art of coke dealing. Bosch doesn’t really want to have anything to do with the hard stuff, but he gets dragged in anyway and that is when things start to spiral.
The film feels a bit flabby at nearly two hours, but you feel there is a germ of a good story in there too. It’s director Tyler Atkins’ first effort and it is clear that he is really interested in the surfing and then sort of built the story out from there. There are scenes that either don’t add that much or don’t work in their own terms. A tighter edit would have helped. The sense of place makes an important contribution but there are only so many shots we need of young Rockit surfing (although King is actually a pro surfer and that is, as noted, probably the core of the whole enterprise).
The film hopes for an updraught from cameos by familiar faces/names. For example, Heather Mitchell turns up for about two seconds as the manager of a motel that Bosch hides out in.
All in all, this comes out as something familiar from Australian films, a story with heart that fails, despite its best efforts, to really catch the wave.
I absolutely loved it, it’s hands down one of the best Australian films I’ve ever seen.
Julian, you clearly haven’t seen the film, Isabel Lucas plays Bosch’s girlfriend not ex-wife. This has to be the most poorly articulated/Clichè review I’ve ever read. You missed the wave bro!
This review fails to capture the essence of this film, and to finish it with a bad pun is the standard of the writing. It’s a glorious film celebrating the love between sons and fathers, finding forgiveness and ultimately hope.
I enjoyed this film, although I don’t think it will win any awards. Loved the scenery and have actually stayed at The Sails Motel, in Brunswick Heads.it was a good honest story…but yeah, a bit cheesy.