Chasing Mavericks, in theatres October 26, is a film based on the life and challenges of American “soul surfer” Jay Moriarty, played by newcomer Jonny Weston.
The film begins with a brief opening about Jay as a child, but then moves to Jay at 16, where the story really begins. When Frosty Heston, played by 300’s Gerard Butler, comes into Jay’s life, Jay discovers his interest in surfing. Since Jay’s father left him and his mother, played by Elisabeth Shue, when Jay was very young, Frosty becomes a pseudo-father for him.
It is Frosty that accidentally discusses the topics of Mavericks, almost mythical 25-80 foot waves, in front of Jay. Frosty knows that a strong-willed boy like Jay is going to attempt to surf this huge wave with or without his help and decides that his best bet is to teach Jay as much as he can, rather than let the boy go in without proper training.
Throughout the film, Jay encounters other issues, such as his best friend turning to drugs and his mother falling apart, practically giving up on life.
Not many reviews have been written on the upcoming film, but one blogger, David Rhinehart, gave the film rave reviews at geekenstein.com.
“Jay deals with the typical crap that every teenager has to deal with, which let me relate, but I never had the drive that he had,” writes Rhinehart, “Weston pulled off that yearn, when he looked at those waves, you could see that dream becoming a possibility that he wanted nothing more than to pull off.”
Rhinehart writes that, even from the point of view of a man “not that into sports or surfing or the culture around either,” the film was still “a beautiful telling of his story,” referring to Jay Moriarty and his courageous spirit.
The film was directed by Curtis Hanson, director of 2002’s 8 Mile and 2005’s In Her Shoes, and Michael Apted, who directed 2010’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Apted was also elected president of the Directors Guild of America in 2003.
Rhinehart ends his post on the film with, “The ending in particular was handled beautifully and really helps express the films true message to “live like Jay.” Hopefully you will watch Chasing Mavericks.”

By Taylor Zimmerman