Surfer, Dude (2008)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Am I Missing Something?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

To be as far from the surfing scene as one can be. Being a 44yr old black man, who live's inland & have never been on a board or in the ocean for that matter in his life so far. I really enjoyed this movie. I have always like the beach atmosphere & the surfer cool about way of living. Tell me who wouldn't want to live a care free lifestyle like ole boy & his bud's? Hell Thea! I know I would. & those who's bust'n on it, light'n up. This is not a film to be taken seriously. But I bet you dollar's to donuts's, that this film is as close to on how real dedicated surfer's live or want to. Like I said, "Hell Thea! I know I would". So just kick back & enjoy the movie for what it is & not for what it's not.... OK.

The abortion of thought that went into this film will shock and astonish you. For Mathew McConaughey, studying a role requires little more than his imagination. Rather than given an insightful view of a surfer's life, the audience is simply subjected to an hour and a half of what McConaughey THINKS is a lifestyle that everyone will fall in love with.Surfer Dude lacks all logic and structure. There is not enough substance here for a full movie, and yet, somehow, they managed to record SOMETHING for 85 minutes. The level of contempt McConaughey has shown for his audience is appalling.The movie starts out giving you the gut feeling that they are faking it, that they are some how cheesing it up to make fun of a horrible stereotype. Very quickly you find out that they are absolutely serious, and like a child finding out Santa isn't real, all hopes for a decent movie are lost.About half way through the film, the faint whispers of a plot start to shine through like sunlight in deep water, then the big dark rain cloud that is McConaughey moves in. Isn't there a definition for what a movie is? Simply recording onto 85 minutes of film does not constitute "movie." We're trying to have a civilization here Mathew! From this point on, I am avoiding all McConaughey movies. I will no longer waste my life on truly horrendous trash like Surfer Dude. On my death bed, I will say, "I wish I never saw surfer dude with Mathew McConaughey." and my kids and grand kids will all say "Who's Mathew McConaughey?"

Here is this movie and here I am, someone who liked it. A movie which got huge slaps in the face by critics pointing that this isn't more than something stoners would make for other stoners; and myself who never touched weed or any drugs.Even so, I liked Surfer, Dude. Better to say: I loved it. Because it helped me rethink what is important in life and what isn't.The main character (Addington) represents everything that people living in the cage of the consumer / mass society can only dream about, or should be dreaming about.He is the free man, part of and living with nature. Not a 9 to 5 office worker like the most of us, not someone having only twenty-some days off a year. Not working for the profit (which actually goes to other one's pocket), he is living for living, enjoying life, experiencing the mystery or magic of nature.There is a big contrast in the movie. The artificial vs the real. The video game and reality show versus the real surfing and life under the sun. Inside and outside.Addington is like a creature from another world, but at the end of the film it feels like he is the one from planet Earth (with the goat shepherd and the fisherman) and on the other hand we who made the fields chessboard looking, made the trees stand in order and in the exact same distance from each other in the forest, we are the aliens, or robots. He is the relaxed one we are the frustrated ones. He does only the positive things, and none of the negative ones, not even for money. "Not feelin' it. Not into it". This thing is double stated with the soul/Seoul people scene after the cast, at the very end of the movie.Actually I recommend Surfer, Dude for those, who feel frustrated after work or feel like there is more to life than doing overtime for surplus production.Yes the plot is simple, but has important questions. I accept the statement that the flow of the story is very slow, too. And overall, it could be a little bit better, like everything else.But the stills are beautiful. And in its slow way it gives me a long smile instead of periodic laughter.Chill out with the movie, dude. And think about your life for a minute.

There are a lot of mixed reviews about this movie. Some surfers rate it negatively because they think the movie is about surfing, and feel it does not portray the majority of surfers well, or feel offended by it.The movie is about ONE surfer, and the way he looks at life, not wanting to be part of the capitalist system others try to include him in.The plot is that. People trying to get the main character to do what they want, and him refusing to cooperate, brining upon him the hardships people with money can give you if you go against them.Nonetheless, the surfer in the movie stays true to his principles and doesn't give in.This is not a movie about surfing, or surfers, but about how the main character thinks surfing is all there is to life, and how he doesn't want to get involved into anyone's game, or be anyone's monkey.The film contains very nice shots, and a very nice soundtrack too, as well as some very funny moments. This is a movie to sit back and relax, and it might help you trivialize some things, like the state of your bank account.