Drift (2013) Reviews

• Highly enjoyable, not just another surf film

  streamofstars2013-05-06

  There's been plenty of surf films and documentaries over the years, and if you're a surfer or surfing fan, no doubt you've seen them all. Drift is the latest surf film paying tribute to and giving us a glimpse into the Australian surf life when popular surf brands were just beginning. Set in Western Australia in the early 1970's, Drift is the story of surfer brothers Andy and Jimmy Kelly (Myles Pollard and Xavier Samuel). Andy is dissatisfied with working long hours at the local mill, while trying to keep younger brother Jimmy from a life of crime. With help from their mother Kat (Robyn Malcolm), and childhood friend Gus (Aaron Glenane), they start a surf shop in their backyard garage, making custom-made wetsuits and new surfboards. Along the way they meet and get inspiration from surfer photographer/filmmaker JB (Sam Worthington) and his Hawaiian friend Lani (Lesley-Ann Brandt). Their success and hard work comes at a price though as they deal with members of the community who are not ready for their innovative ideas and trouble from a violent bikie gang. The acting is fine all round. Myles Pollard, who also co-produced the film, is solid as the responsible older brother. Xavier Samuel, in one of his best performances, brings charisma and energy to his role. Sam Worthington is excellent. He is perfect as the free-spirited hippie. He seemed to enjoy this role more than some of his recent work and it was wonderful to see him in an Aussie film again. The film does a great job of bringing the 70's back to life. You gotta love JB's colourful bus and the classic kombi vans! The surfing photography is exciting and breathtaking, and the cinematography by Geoffrey Hall is simply beautiful. The soundtrack, a mix of 70's classics and more recent tunes, really adds to the cool laid back vibe. Directed by Ben Nott and Morgan O'Neill, Drift is well-paced and there's a lovely balance between the surfing scenes and the dramas of everyday life. I honestly would've loved to have seen a few more surfing scenes. And even if you're not interested in surfing, this honest Australian film will inspire and engage. The cast and crew looked like they had fun making this film and it shows. A snapshot into the Aussie surf life, it was a highly enjoyable and upbeat movie experience.

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• Surfing Life

  jacquie-109-6024282013-03-29

  Wow! Volunteered for CinefestOz and ended up being able to stay and watch the movie premiere! The opening scene creates an unexpected tension with the mother and the young brothers heading off in darkness. They drive and drive and end up at overlooking what appears to be the Margaret River beach and its seems like their fate lies in the region. It not easy fitting into a tight knit community and the boys find it difficult though they find do find a friend who's pretty good at fixing up boards. Cut to years later, with surfing still a big part in the life of the Kelly brothers, though Andy now works at the mill while younger brother Jimmy gets in with the wrong crowd. Poor Mum spends lots of time drinking tea or coffee at the sewing machine! JB is a surf photographer who drifts into the area and sets up camp overlooking the spectacular coastline. He is accompanied by Lani who both the boys begin to fall for. The movie coasts along at a slow pace mixing awesome surf photography interspersed with the drama unfolding to the final surf competition and showdown with the baddies, bank and promoter, and coming back to the beginning of the story when Jimmy saves Andy from drowning but the roles are reversed. The scenery in the film is breath taking and showcases the Margaret River region, including Augusta, Bunker Bay and Yallingup as places with pristine ocean and natural beauty. Like Red Dog, this will be an iconic Australian movie, honoring mates sharing waves, and the sentimental Aussie battler. From the speeches at the premiere, it is like a dream to the directors who have created something they are obviously stoked and proud of.

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• Just the surfing camera shots make this a 10

  wc_ling2013-06-06

  Totally entertaining. We all know modern day culture even the surfer culture so I'll not expound on that. Just the surfing shots in this film make it a 10. Actng is excellent. At the beginning you're told: this is based on actual events, and it isn't hard to see why. We live in a world today where evil abounds... there are some good as well as bad choices in this film. Hopefully the viewers will comprehend the better decisions and if challenged in their life with such... will make the right choices. One can put all aside and just enjoy the surfing; which makes one want to leave the cities and live the life of the GREAT outdoors!

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• Even when the pacing slumps or the story seems corny, it's never been so easy to dive into the surf

  Likes_Ninjas902013-04-28

  Drift is a breezy Australian surfing film that doesn't break any new ground or take too many chances but the surfing scenes are spectacularly photographed and the performances are as colourful as the scenery. Like many local films, it is extremely well made and acted with professionalism, even when the story isn't revolutionary. The opening scenes in the Sixties are filmed in black and white. This is a fine visual touch, recalling Oz the Great and Powerful, because when the film forwards past the childhood of its central characters Andy and Jimmy and enters the 1970s, the film explodes with vivid colours being cast over a giant wave. Riding this enormous wave is Jimmy (Xavier Samuel). Jimmy and his brother Andy (Myles Pollard) moved from Sydney to Margaret River in Western Australia with their mother Kat (Robyn Malcolm) to start a new life together. Andy works long hours in a timber mill, while his brother rides hard in professional surfing competitions. Seeing the lousy treatment of the older folks of the mill, Andy decides to quit his job and help start a surf shop with his brother, selling surfing gear like boards and wetsuits. This is at a time just prior to when surfing competitions started awarding serious prize money. Andy is angered to discover that Jimmy has done a small time job for some local bikie crims and urges him to return any stolen material. Yet these bikie thugs refuse to leave their friends alone and one of them becomes involved in drugs. Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans) plays a hippie surfer named JB, who befriends both the boys. JB's Hawaiian hippie friend Lani (Lesley-Ann Brandt) also takes a romantic shine to Andy. Beneath its sunny exterior, the film is about the relationship of these two brothers and poses the question of whether a hobby makes for a satisfying and financially sustainable living. The film has more than sand between its ears, realising that a compromise has to be made when it comes to approaching sport as an occupation. This is reflected by JB, who has the film's funniest and smartest line: "Its Darwinian man. We adapt, we survive." It would be impolite to say that the story by Morgan O'Neill exists merely to showcase the surfing because there is more narrative than just sun. It's more of a question of the familiarity of many individual story elements. This is very much a rerun of the underdog story: the little business that could, faced against impossible odds like evil bikies and a stuffy bank manager. The bikies are a blessing and a curse for the film. They're total caricatures but also helpful in providing some danger to the script through some flat spots, where it feels as though there could be more risk involved. The bikies handout a few thuggish beatings and there is a drug subplot, which gives the film a grittier shade in contrast to lightweight, jovial tone and relaxed, pleasant performances. The film even retreats to that plot line where a contest is handily giving out a large monetary prize so that the little people can save the farm. Are these contests deliberately organised around places of low socioeconomics and general lucklessness? The organisers must have prior knowledge of people's banking woes, such is their convenience. I also couldn't see the necessity of the romance between the Lani and Andy. Lani serves to ties the global relations between Australian and the US neatly (in a perfectly square ending) but any potential conflict between the brothers never eventuates over her. What many people will see the film for are the stunning, exciting and beautiful surfing sequences, which are filmed by Rick Rifici and Rick Jakovich: two highly experienced and talented water cinematographers. Filmed with great width, there are some gorgeous and hair-raising waves showcased here. The actors in the film performed some of the surfing, while real surfers were employed as stunt doubles too. An interesting fact is that despite how vivid and colourful the film is, it was actually filmed in winter so that the waves would be bigger and therefore more dramatic. They're a huge part of a great looking movie so that even when the pacing slumps or the story seems corny, it's never been so easy to dive into the surf.

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• paradise aways has its price

  trojans72013-05-07

  this honest look at surfing and living in the 70's is not to be missed and you don't need to be a surfer to enjoy this classic piece of Australian cinema. beautifully shot from the land and in the ocean it draws you into the world of these two brother that are as different as chalk and cheese. but both love to surf. sam worthington plays a drifter hippy who become part of there lives.bring a women with him to add fuel to there little world. but it there love of surfing and doing a job you love not a job you have too do that make the movie so enjoyable. and it not a surf movie that dies the minute it leaves the beach, you follow these guys in and out of the water with as much interest. an all round great film that made me long for the beach and a simpler time.if you want to see a good Australian drama that not just made for TV check it out.

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