10s Movie Review - Soul Surfer

Director: Sean McNamara
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Sorbo, Carrie Underwood, Ross Thomas, Chris Brochu, Lorraine Nicholson, Jeremy Sumpter, Sonya Balmores

Description: Teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton (AnnaSophia Robb) overcomes the odds and her own fears of returning to the water after losing her left arm in a shark attack.

Review: The true story is about surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm at the age of thirteen due to a shark attack. The start of the film shows us Bethany growing up in Oahu, Hawaii, along with her two brothers Timmy and Noah. It soon becomes clear that she was born to surf and that her parents Tom and Cheri have supported her from the beginning in realizing her dream of becoming a professional.
But when she and her best friend Alana go surfing on the morning of Halloween, a shark attacks her and she loses her arm. She does survive and from that moment on everything becomes a challenge. Yet Bethany is determined to get back into the water as soon as possible.
There is a strong emphasis in the film on faith in God, and how anyone can achieve the impossible through His help. Bethany is a huge go-getter and doesn’t let anything stop her, but this is mainly because she is convinced that God has a plan for her and will use the very loss of her arm to bring something beautiful out of it. For me, that makes the film a bit to sugar-sweet, but might be inspiring for many. It is very beautiful to see how her family and friends support her and give the necessary advice, but also how Bethany responds and seems to do the same in return. This could be a very inspiring film and story for you g boys and girls.
There is one scene, that really made me cringe though. We see that the shark who attacked Bethany (which is not a very spectacular scene by the way) was caught and everyone, including Bethany’s father, stand around it. As he is some evil being. Yeah, the film really lost a point here.
It is inspiring how Bethany Hamilton overcame such a traumatic experience and got back on the surf board to become a successful professional surfer.

Rating: 3/ 5