Cutback

Dove Worldview:

This is a tightly directed movie with some nice acting chops by the lead actor, Justin Schwan, who portrays Luke Harris, a young surfing high school senior who hangs out with his best friend, Casey Sanchez (Angel Cruz), doesn't get along with his dad, and who wants to make surfing his career and forego a college education. When Luke's mother introduces him to Pastor Shane (Danny Smith) and he meets a beautiful young Christian woman named Emily (Kelsey Sanders) he winds up moving further from God, not closer. But the people in his life have been placed there for a reason, and when tragedy strikes these very same people are the only ones who can ease Luke's pain.

This is a quality production and I was drawn in to the story. I found myself wanting to know how it all would end before the movie hit its climax. A good story and good story-telling does that. The characters are nicely developed, something that you don't always see in films these days. The directors, Johnny Remo and Lance Bachelder, pull off a wonderful job with some nice surfing scenes and close-ups when appropriate to reflect a character's pain or frustration. The story is plausible and realistically done.

We are most pleased to award our Dove "Family-Approved" Seal to this movie. It deals with life and death and the spiritual questions most people ask themselves and it throws in some humor to boot. What more would you want from a movie?

Content Description:

Sex: A young man and woman are interested in each other.
Language: Butt-1
Violence: A few disagreements between characters; a truck strikes a car and there is a resulting death.
Drugs: A character drinks beer and admits to being drunk but his lifestyle changes for the better later on.
Nudity: None
Other: Church services and conversations about God and the Bible; conversions; disagreements between a father and son and a man and his wife; a death of a major character; a young man disobeys and leaves his room despite being grounded; a father in anger says he doesn't care if his son's surf board came from the burning bush; a character calls a Christian girl "pathetic" but he changes; the term "Jesus Freak" is used.