Ride

What it's about:

When her son drops out of college to become a surfer and find himself, a New Yorker magazine editor follows him to Los Angeles, and ends up being the one thrust into a seachange of self-discovery, befriending a limo driver and rediscovering her romantic side with a younger surf instructor. Slowly, she begins to heal the fractured relationship with her son.

What we thought:

At first I was expecting a sun filled movie with nothing but hot surfers and a hidden story line that nobody cares about anyway because #hotsurfers! But I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s not the first time Helen Hunt has taken on a surfer mom role – she previously played the role of Bethany Hamilton’s mom in Soul Surfer – but thanks to her comedic writing and directing skills this surfer mom comes with a twist.

While the main storyline seems fragmented at times the overall appearance of the film is nothing but a feel good, light-hearted tale told by an over-protective mom who just wants the best for her son, something all mothers can relate to. What you don’t expect is the life lesson that comes with the freedom of the ocean and how taking time to explore another person’s interests could in fact change your own life.

While you’d think the movie title would obviously refer to surfing, it definitely isn’t the focal point of the movie which is a disappointment as it is pretty much advertised as a ‘surfer movie’, but the lack of surfing is made up by the giggles you’ll have at the adventures Jackie (Helen Hunt) goes on.

Brenton Thwaites – who plays Jackie’s son – wasn’t too bad however, I think if the point was for him to drop out of school and become a surfer he should’ve done more surfing and less staring in to the distance, but hey that’s just me. The rest of his performance hardly compares to Helen Hunt’s but then again Luke Wilson makes an appearance so, Brenton wasn’t the worst.

This is a film that you watch on a Sunday night on M-Net or when it’s raining and you’re curled up on the couch. It deserves some credit for putting a smile on my face but that s about all.