About: Chasing Mavericks is based on the life story of surfer Jay Moriarty (Jonny Weston). From an early age, Jay had learned to surf the average-sized waves in his hometown on the Pacific coast of the United States. As the Californian kid becomes a teenager, he notices that a neighbor, an older man nicknamed Frosty (Gerard Butler), is an accomplished surfer.

Jay secretly follows Frosty one day to a far away surfing spot, and learns that Frosty surfs some of the biggest waves on the California coast. The secret spot is a place called "Mavericks" — and its real location is known to a select few. As far as the rest of the surfing world was concerned, Mavericks was only a myth. Most surfing waves are 6-feet high or less. In contrast, the winter waves at Mavericks can reach 25 to 80 feet high (8 to 24 meters). Although he's a kind man, Frosty is reluctant to take Jay under his wing and help him surf big waves. Frosty's life is hard enough as it is, balancing his family and blue-collar work obligations with his passion for surfing. But with the urging of his wife, Frosty agrees to tutor young Jay. Frosty also might have been motivated by his desire to keep Jay from revealing the Mavericks secret to other surfers.

Jay assumes that riding big waves is just a bigger version of the small-wave surfing that he does every day. But Frosty rapidly tells Jay that small wave surfing is what happens when everything goes right. For big wave surfing, it's all about planning for when everything goes wrong. Frosty feels Jay isn't prepared for Mavericks just yet. Jay has only a 12-week window to prepare for the big wave sets at Mavericks, before the winter swells vanish. So, under Frosty's tutelage, Jay practices how to hold his breath underwater for minutes on end. He builds his strength by paddling long distances on a kayak. He stops eating junk food, and focuses on his nutrition. And he prepares his mind to face his fears, since a wipeout at Mavericks can lead to being held underwater for minutes at a time, resulting in a potentially lethal panic attack.

After several weeks, Frosty deems Jay ready for Mavericks, and takes him to the surf spot. Jay wipes out on his first wave, and is held underwater for many tense minutes while Frosty and Jay's girlfriend watch from atop the nearby cliffs. But thanks to his training, Jay pops above the water alive. Jay has invested so much time and effort into his training, that he doesn't want to waste it. Undeterred by the previous wipeout, Jay is ready for another wave. Jay's next big-wave ride is successful, finally accomplishing his goal to ride one of the world's biggest waves. In future years, Jay would go on to become one of the best big-wave surfers in the world. Tragically, Jay doesn't die in the way the audience might expect — while surfing monster waves. Instead, at a later time, Jay dies while free diving near a tropical island. The film ends with Frosty's narration about how those who push the limits of nature sometimes get pushed back by those very limits.

Acting:
The movie faltered right from the start due to the use of child actors. In rare cases, such as the film Stand by Me, child actors can actually pull it off, or be coached to pull it off. But child actors are usually not as good as adults, and that was the case with wooden performances at the start of Chasing Mavericks. It was only once the movie fast-forwards to teenage Jay and his teenage and adult friends that Chasing Mavericks hits its stride.

Jonny Weston was good at portraying Jay Moriarty, although there were a few moments when the actor appeared too eager when wanting to portray the inner hunger to ride big waves that Jay had.

Also impressive were the actresses who played Jay's mother (Elisabeth Shue), and Frosty's wife (Abigail Spencer).

Gerard Butler adequately portrayed Frosty, the reluctant, though kind neighbor who helped Jay train to become a big wave surfer. At times, Butler's Scottish accent appeared in his dialogue, but he tried his best at the American accent. Butler was cast for the film partly for his athletic physique, and since he was taller and stronger than Jonny Weston, Butler was well cast in the stronger teacher role.

Surprisingly, one of the best performances in the film came from a supporting actor. Devin Crittenden portrayed Blond, Jay's teenage friend at the pizzeria. At first, the character was the clear-headed young surfer friend of Jay. Later, the character morphed into a stoned teenager, blearily looking through his drugged eyes at Jay's attempt to get in shape for big-wave surfing. Crittenden's performance reflected something deeper than a cynical high school student or stoner. His acting was beyond his years. Crittenden has a promising acting career ahead of him.

Writing:
Chasing Mavericks was 'based on a true story,' so it's hard to know which parts of the script were real, and which were fictional. The one part of the plot of Chasing Mavericks that didn't work too well was the love connection between Jay and his future girlfriend. Although the acting was good, the dialogue seemed constrained and unrealistic. We aren't led to understand why Jay's girlfriend suddenly falls in love with Jay in a tearful confession. It seemed there was little leading up to that point. On the positive side of the script, besides the quest to surf enormous waves, there were many powerful forces in Jay's life. His parent's had split up, and with only his mother in his life, he was struggling to find himself, while keeping a distance from teenage peers consumed with recreational drugs. In addition, Jay's family was not wealthy, so Jay had occasional clashes with rich teen surfer peers. As a result, the story of Jay Moriarty was a powerful one, and it made Jay's struggle to ride the biggest waves all the more poignant.

Photography:
The water shots were fantastic, since the magnitude of Maverick's giant waves was captured on film nicely. When it comes to big waves, it must be difficult to take quality photography shots from moving boats and helicopters, and this film did that magnificently. Overall, though, the photography in Chasing Mavericks was adequate. Alas, there were attempts to light the actors' faces both on land and in the water. Sometimes the lighting worked, but at other times, the lighting was too bright. Often, objects crossed in front of the lights, casting shadows on the actors, momentarily spoiling the filmmaking illusion.

Special Effects:
The fact that there were special effects at all in this movie was surprising. There was a part where Jay and his girlfriend paddle out together on surfboards late at night. In the background are some bright stars against the black night sky. Probably, the night sky was a special effect. Otherwise, the visual effects were not noticeable in the movie, which is a sign of good effects work.

Music:
The musical score wasn't bad. It served its purpose in enhancing the dramatic moments. The soundtrack even had some good alternative rock songs at times. The surf culture in northern California differs from every other surfing community in the world, and the alternative songs helped to show that uniqueness.

Favorite Part:
There is a scene where Jay, in the middle of his training, sneaks out to the cliffs above Mavericks. From his vantage point, he sees a lone surfer attempt to catch a monster wave. The surfer is unsuccessful, and disappears into the mountains of whitewater beneath the closing wave. There is nobody who can help the surfer, and Jay watches in panic as the surfer disappears. Eventually, the surfer is seen again when he climbs up some jagged rocks near shore. But for a moment, the deadliness of Mavericks is palpable.

As a surfing movie:
It is nice to see big money thrown into making surfing feature films. The box-office success of Soul Surfer must have inspired the financing and making of Chasing Mavericks. As a feature surfing movie, Chasing Mavericks was refreshing because it didn't dwell on surfing lingo as some other surfing feature films tend to do. The film even included cameo performances by genuine modern-day big-wave surfers Greg Long and Peter Mel. The 'paddle-out' is something that was presented in this film. A paddle-out is a tradition where many surfers hop on their surfboards and arrange themselves in a circle in the ocean. The ritual commemorates the life of a fallen surfer. As for the realism of a big movie star surfing, although Gerard Butler did some of the surfing scenes himself, for the biggest waves, there was a surfer stand-in. Luckily, the substitution of actors wasn't noticeable. To those who actually knew Jay Moriarty, Chasing Mavericks wasn't just a surfing movie, but a tribute to Jay's memory. The movie also can serve to memorialize the many others who have died surfing big waves. Surfers everywhere can relate to the need to surf, and be near the ocean. Few people can surf big waves, but all surfers can watch this film and imagine what it must be like to surf Mavericks. So as a surfing feature film, Chasing Mavericks is one of the better ones.

Conclusion:
As a feature movie in general, Chasing Mavericks was okay. Although there are a few acting, technical, and writing issues, the film was a quality product. This was an exciting film to watch, and a delightful transportation away from daily life into the death-defying world of big-wave surfing. Even those who don't surf can appreciate the battles of young Jay's life, and the struggle of man versus nature. Jay's life was a story of perseverance in the face of adversity, something that everyone can relate to.

As a surfing-genre movie: 8/10