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Billabong Odyssey

2003, Movie, PG, 89 mins

Billabong Odyssey: Review

BILLABONG ODYSSEY
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Philip Boston's ambitious documentary follows elite surfers invited to compete in a three-year odyssey of riding some of the world's largest waves, but the slim story gets swamped by the stunning visuals. Most of the boarders are professional competitors, and highlights of their careers are scattered throughout. Using high-tech weather technology to track wave patterns and bring the surfers to the big swells, the filmmakers hope one of them will encounter the supreme wave. Their endeavor is made possible by the relatively new and increasingly popular practice of tow-in surfing, in which surfers are strapped to their boards and dragged by jet-ski into otherwise unreachable swells. Surfer Mike Parsons enthusiastically compares the expedition to climbing Mount Everest or trekking to the South Pole, while water-safety expert Brian Keaulana leads a refresher course in ocean survival techniques. The majority of the film's screen time goes to the rivalry between Southern Californian duo of Parsons and Brad Gerlach, and Santa Cruz team of "Flea" Virostko, "Barney" Barron, "Skindog" Collins and Josh Loya as they visit France, Hawaii, Australia and Tahiti in search of an 80-foot wave. Tow-in pioneer Ken Bradshaw and female champion Layne Beachley also get their moments in the spotlight. Gerlach and Parsons shine in their home arena, Cortez Bank, nearly 100 miles off the San Diego coast, while the Santa Cruz boys rule a Northern California haunt known as Mavericks, but the playing field is leveled in more exotic locales. Interspersed with the heavy competition scenes are segments featuring sport futurist Rush Randle, who shows off high-tech hydrofoil surfboards and aerial acrobatics; while interesting, this material slows down the momentum of the daredevil competition around which the film is structured. Boston seems to have wanted to examine all aspects of tow-in surfing, including the weather tracking equipment, team efforts, safety measures and upcoming trends. But cramming in all this information — and much of it is covered in Dana Brown's STEP INTO LIQUID (2003), which also, inevitably, features many of the same personalities — dilutes the film's focus. The roles of several competitors are almost non-existent, and it's hard to keep track of the numerous surfers who score screen time as the crew wanders the world. Adding to the confusion is the absence of a single narrator to pull the disparate elements together: Each person narrates his or her own experiences, and Boston wraps up the film in an unsatisfying rush. leave a comment --Angel Cohn
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