Blue Crush is a 2002 sports film directed by John Stockwell and based on Susan Orlean s 1998 Outside magazine article Life s Swell . It stars Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Sanoe Lake and Mika Boorem. The film tells the story of three friends who have one passion: living the ultimate dream of surfing on Hawaii s famed North Shore.

Plot

Anne Marie (Kate Bosworth) and her fourteen-year-old sister, Penny (Mika Boorem), along with good friends Eden (Michelle Rodriguez) and Lena (Sanoe Lake), live in a small house on the North Shore. They all have been helping raise Penny, since her mother moved to Las Vegas with her boyfriend.

While Penny is at school, Anne Marie, Eden, and Lena work as maids in a super-luxury resort hotel, but more important than that, they are surfers. Anne Marie rises every morning before dawn to train for a possible surfing comeback. As a child, she had been a rising star in women s surfing, until she suffered a near-fatal wipeout. This has temporarily halted her progress; now when she is in really big powerful surf, she has deep-seated fears of dying. Her friends, especially Eden, are encouraging her to try once again to become a professional surfer.

Anne Marie is invited to join the surfing competition at the famed North Shore surf spot, the very challenging Banzai Pipeline. If she can do well enough to gain the attention of a sponsor, it would lift her and her friends out of the near-poverty in which they live. As the Pipeline competition gets closer, Anne Marie struggles to keep her young sister Penny from running wild and tries to deal with her own personal issues.

Anne Marie meets Matt Tollman (Matthew Davis), a National Football League quarterback who is in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl (it is hinted that he plays for the Minnesota Vikings). Matt is instantly attracted to the surfer. After a few encounters, Matt says he wants to learn to surf, and Anne Marie agrees to teach him, and several of his rowdy teammates, to surf for $150 per hour, with Lena, Eden and Penny acting as coaches. When Anne Marie goes to the hotel room to get the money, she sees Matt, but a call comes in. Anne Marie asks if it is Matt s wife, but he explains it is his niece. Later, they sleep together.

Anne Marie s acceptance of a non-Hawaiian as her boyfriend causes friction between her and some of the young male surfers on the North Shore. Eden points out to Anne Marie that her current interest in Matt has weakened her commitment to training for the Pipeline contest. Anne Marie overhears very demeaning comments about herself from some of the other football players wives and girlfriends, who are staying at the hotel.

Anne Marie confronts Matt about their situation. She soon resolves to step up her game, as she finally commits herself to the Pipeline Masters. On the day of Pipeline, Anne Marie wipes out during her first heat, but she advances to the next heat after narrowly beating pro surfer Kate Skarratt. She is shaken, but Matt tells her how he failed in his first game as an NFL quarterback, and this helps her get control of her wavering confidence.

Determined, although still apprehensive, Anne Marie returns to the water. Competing in the same heat is Keala Kennelly, one of the first professional female surfers. While Keala surfs the first few sets of waves well, Anne Marie is still reluctant to try one, visions of her near-drowning incident holding her back. Keala finishes her turn, then paddles back out to take Anne Marie under her wing. Keala encourages her to ride the best wave of the day, and Anne Marie rides it perfectly, managing to score a perfect ten. Although Anne Marie cannot advance to the next heat, she has regained her lost confidence and attracted the attention of sponsors, one of whom immediately offers to have her join the Billabong women s surf team.

Cast

• Kate Bosworth as Anne Marie Chadwick Coco Ho as Young Anne Marie
• Coco Ho as Young Anne Marie
• Matthew Davis as Matt Tollman
• Michelle Rodriguez as Eden
• Sanoe Lake as Lena Olin
• Mika Boorem as Penny Chadwick
• Faizon Love as Leslie

Appearances from real-life surfers

• Keala Kennelly
• Carol Anne Philips
• Coco Ho
• Rochelle Ballard
• Layne Beachley
• Megan Abubo
• Brian Keaulana
• Tom Carroll
• Jamie O Brien
• Bruce Irons
• Makua Rothman

Soundtrack

Music from the Motion Picture Blue Crush
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released	August 16, 2002
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	47:09
Label	Virgin Records
Producer	Steven Marley, Josh Debear, Moby, Don Great, Pharrell Williams, Lenny Kravitz, Justin Stanley

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes rated 61% of reviews from 142 critics as positive, with an average rating of 5.81/10. The site s consensus reads, The surfing sequences are exhilarating, but the plot is pretty forgettable and trite. Metacritic gave the movie a score of 61 based on 33 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews . On their weekly film recap show, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave the film 3/4 stars.

Box office

The film opened on 3,002 screens in the United States on August 18, 2002. It grossed $14.2 million and placed third on the weekend. It went on to gross $40.4 million in the United States, and a total of $51.8 million worldwide. The film s estimated budget was $25 million. Blue Crush was the first film to use Hawaii s Act 221, a progressive local tax incentive that called for a 100 percent state tax credit for high-tech investments meeting the requirements for qualified high-tech business, while also allowing local investors to receive tax credits for investments in film or television productions. Universal Studios used the legislation for the Blue Crush production, receiving approximately $16 million in a deal with local investors who, in exchange, received the film s high-tech tax credits. The agreement also involved marketing rights for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau whereby the studio would cross-promote the film and the State of Hawaii. Entertainment executive April Masini, who helped produce Baywatch: Hawaii, Pacific Blue, and the Miss Universe Pageant, brought the tax incentives to the attention of Universal Studios, and along with producer Adam Fields advised the state in its negotiation.

Television

In October 2017, NBC was developing a television adaptation of the film.

Year	2002
ReleaseDate	2002-08-16
RuntimeMins	104
RuntimeStr	1h 44min
Plot	As a hard-core surfer girl prepares for a big competition, she finds herself falling for a football player.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 7 nominations
Directors	John Stockwell
Writers	Susan Orlean, Lizzy Weiss, John Stockwell
Stars	Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Matthew Davis
Produced by	Suzy Barbieri,Rick Dallago,Louis G. Friedman,Brian Grazer,Kathy Jones,Karen Kehela Sherwood,Buffy Shutt
Music by	Paul Haslinger
Cinematography by	David Hennings
Film Editing by	Emma E. Hickox
Casting By	Margaret Doversola,Sarah Finn,Randi Hiller
Production Design by	Tom Meyer
Art Direction by	Denise Hudson
Set Decoration by	Meg Everist
Costume Design by	Susan Matheson
Makeup Department	Jean Ann Black,Chantal Boom la,Bridget Cook,Paulette Crammond,Elizabeth Dahl,Tarra D. Day,Tania Kahale,Karen Iboshi Preiser,Laine Rykes,James Sartain
Production Management	Irish Barber,Renee Confair,Louis G. Friedman,Sean T. Stratton
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Bernie Bonner Axelrod,Gregory J. Barnett,Sally Sue Beisel-Lander,J. Stephen Buck,Steve Buck,Ric Groenendal,Kristen Jimenez,John Nelson,Kristen Ploucha,Mary Ellen Woods
Art Department	Jonathan Bobbitt,Alvin S. Cabrinha Jr.,Curtis Crowe,Russell Maki,John Marano,Jonah Markowitz,Shanna Norton,Jeffrey M. O Brien,Dwane Platt,Eric Reichardt,Carly Starr Brullo Niles,Lynette Wich,Liloa Wong,Phyllis Bowie,Camille Komine
Sound Department	Laura Harris Atkinson,Barney Cabral,Kelly Cabral,Frank Fleming,Tim Gedemer,Hector C. Gika,Cameron Hamza,Tom Hartig,Rick Kline,Gregg Landaker,Greg LaPlante,Claude Letessier,Steve Maslow,Nick Neutra,Aynee Osborn,Brion Paccassi,John Reynolds,Perry Robertson,Philip Rogers,Frederick H. Stahly,Lauren Stephens,Nancy Truman,Mark Ulano,James Bailey
Special Effects by	G. Bruno Stempel
Visual Effects by	Jeff Beattie,Thad Beier,Constance Bracewell,Timothy Michael Cairns,Cole Chetney,Daniel Chuba,Patrick Clancey,Carole Cowley,Thomas Dadras,Jamie Dixon,Syd Dutton,Michelle Eisenreich,Fish Essenfeld,Jon Farhat,Patrick Finley,Laurie Powers Going,Shaina Holmes,Justin Jones,Mark Kenaston,Rebecca Marie,Fumi Mashimo,Mamie McCall,Don McCuaig,Kelvin McIlwain,Eric Sanford,Steven J. Scott,R. Michael Stringer,Bill Taylor,Bruno Vilela,Robert Cole,Hilda Saffari
Stunts	Megan Abubo,Gregory J. Barnett,Jeffrey G. Barnett,Todd Bryant,Alex Daniels,Craig H. Davidson,Cara Hemperly,Noah Johnson,Brian L. Keaulana,Mark Kubr,Jonathan Paskowitz,Kym Stys,Michael Trisler
Camera and Electrical Department	Matthew Berner,Rick Crum,Mark Shane Davis,Mark Gerasimenko,Glenn Grimes,John Johnson,Don King,Marcos O Lopez,John McEveety,David Morton,Chris Moseley,Allen Mozo,David D.R. Rhineer,Lukas Seno,Lance Jay Velazco,Troy N. Wade
Animation Department	Robert Lurye
Casting Department	Courtney Gross,Scott D. Moore,Tana Roller
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Jeannine Bourdaghs,Anne Hoss,Antonnette C.K. Reed,Susan Strubel,Robyn Zucker
Editorial Department	Charise E. Angone,Robert Berman,Gary Burritt,Carole Cowley,James Durante,Hunter S. Ellis,Patrick Day Kennedy,Alexandra Leviloff,Jack Lewars,Chris Regan,Jay Steinberg,Amy Tompkins,Barry Dresner,Valance Eisleben,Hilda Saffari
Music Department	Wolfgang Amadeus,Ralph Churchwell,George Doering,Michael Farrow,Richard Ford,Gordon Fordyce,Jonas Hansson,Sean M. Hickey,Peymon Maskan,Blake Neely,Angie Rubin,Dana Sano,Christopher S. Parker
Script and Continuity Department	Brenda Lopez,Robert Sidney Mellette
Transportation Department	Richard Groder,Kelly Loo,Stan Mataele,John Reed,Leroy Reed
Additional Crew	Ittay Arad,Al Connell,Anna Culp,Sara Demenkoff,Laurie Foi,Laura J. Fox,Roxann Langlois,Angela Laprete,Lisa Lee Mitchell,John M.H. Lee,Andrew Lipschultz,Thornton Lukela,Gary MacPherson,Erin Mast,Brendon McQueen,Kevin Nakatsuka,Tony Natoli,Marie Noelle,Jonathan Paskowitz,Geeta Vasant Patel,John Philbin,Jon Philion,William Chico Powell,Miguel Ian Raya,Corrie Safris,Jen Sheridan,Jennifer Sheridan,Lalo Vasquez,Donald H. Walker,Amy Wilkins,Ronn Wong,Randee Lynne Jensen
Genres	Drama, Romance, Sport
Companies	Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Mikona Productions GmbH & Co. KG
Countries	USA, Germany
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	5.7
ImDbRatingVotes	31619
MetacriticRating	61
Keywords	sister sister relationship,swimsuit,surfing contest,female surfer,bikini