Gegen die Brandung (1995)

Gegen die Brandung: Directed by Carl Prechezer. With Sean Pertwee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Steven Mackintosh, Ewan McGregor. JC thinks surfing is everything. His girlfriend Chloe wants him to settle down. When he decides to go surfing one night with friends from London, she throws JC out. Surfing or Chloe?

“This movie is currently sitting at an overall score of 5 which is about right.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIts a middle of the road easy watch of a movie, something for a hangover perhaps?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere is zero thrills, tension or any extreme emotion tied to this for the average viewer.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIts draw will be on those who have an interest in surf (although there are few actual surfing scenes) or those looking for 90s UK nostalgia.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever one thing lacking on the nostalgia part is the music, partly due to the producers seemingly having an issue with electronic dance music, despite there being a rave scene.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGoing by this movie we should all apparently be listening to northern soul, which was a trend in the UK in the 60s. It was basically a UK audience who bought up soul music which wasnt actually good enough for the American audience. Their fans (and this producer) seem to think its u0026quot;authenticu0026quot; and nothing to do with fashion, despite fashion being a huge part of it and the scene being built on low quality music….u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe scene in the dancehall where a music producer is u0026quot;confrontedu0026quot; for the u0026quot;crimeu0026quot; of sampling feels inauthentic and completely out of place. The fact is many artists have benefitted from being sampled so this makes zero sense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe other ironic part is the movies attitude towards drugs, as if northern soul dances werenu0026#39;t fuelled by amphetamines.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIts basically a UK melodrama about a man reaching 30 and having to decide over his surfing lifestyle and growing up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe main actor isnu0026#39;t even on the poster, he has been replaced by Ewan McGregor who is a side character, possibly due to his success in Trainspotting. A very young Zeta-Jones is the main female.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIts nothing to get excited about but perfectly fine if you dont want to be too stressed out, although the heavily branded 90s surf/skate wear you may find distressing as a reminder of just how bad some of the clothing was back then.”