Her arm bitten off by a shark, Hawaiian surfer chick Bethany Hamilton learns to ride those waves again…
An amazing true story for sure, but this earnest dramatisation is so wholesome, it feels like being stuck in a never-ending Activia advert.
Everyone is blonde, beautiful and buff – even the church-group leader that escorts Bethany (Bridge To Terabithia’s AnnaSophia Robb) to Thailand to help the post-tsunami locals learn to surf.
While Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt don’t add much as her parents, at least director Sean McNamara gets some stunning surf footage – and the scene with the shark is chillingly economic.
But ultimately? More Blue Crush than Big Wednesday.
