Surf School – Unrated (Lionsgate)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: D     Film: C-

 

 

Films about surfing and teens arrived in the 1960s and peaked in the 1970s as the sex overtook any surfing.  Since then, the films began to disappear in the 1980s and any time they surfaced, they were pale imitators of the better B films.  Joel Silverman’s Surf School (2006) is an example of the poorest kind, phony and condescending all the way, even when the female bikini-clad bodies are well-picked.

 

What you essentially get is another very bad, tired, formulaic, limited teen comedy that just happens to have surfing and sun in the background, meaning Silverman’s script takes zero advantage of the situation and it might as well be on a soundstage with hidden background lighting and a wave pool.  The cast of unknowns are mixed and almost as wasted as you’ll be if you watch this dud, even unrated.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is weak in detail, depth and is obviously shot on HD, which is why the outdoor footage looks limited and even phony.  Add the shaky camerawork that we get too often and this is not easy to sit through.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes have no surrounds and are not recorded that well throughout to begin with.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo