filmland / By Charlie Myers

Eh, Brah!

Russell Crowe says Aussie surf thugs just want to be understood

(May 22, 2008) Previews

Opening on Thursday, May 22, with special midnight showings at the Broadway, Minor and Mill Creek theatres, is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, surely a contender for the top-grossing film of 2008. The venerable Harrison Ford, who seems to get better with age, returns as the archaeologist who just wants to find trouble, now in the guise of Russians who seem to have replaced the Nazis as the bad guy foils. The plot has something to do with mysterious crystal skulls, but who cares? The film’s likely tone is encapsulated in this Indiana line from the trailers: “It used to be easier.” According to reports, Sean Connery turned down a cameo, but Steven Spielberg directs and Ford is joined by Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Karen Allen, who reprises her role from Raiders of the Lost Ark. What’s not to like? Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images. 124 m. At the Broadway, Fortuna, Minor and Mill Creek.

GALLERY >

Opening on Friday is Young@Heart*,*a documentary about a group of elderly singers (from the trailers, their average age appears to exceed my own advanced state) who clearly don’t want to go out quietly. The film follows the current Young at Heart singers from Northampton, Mass., as they rehearse for an upcoming concert, including “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by the Clash, The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” The Pointer Sisters’ “Yes We Can Can” and songs by Sonic Youth and Coldplay. If only I could carry a tune. Or maybe that’s not a problem. Rated PG for some mild language and thematic elements. 107 m. At the Broadway.

Reviews

BRA BOYS: Bra Boys, the surfer tribe that inhabits a slum near Sydney, Australia, just wants to have fun … and maybe surf a bit, party, bemoan their lot in society and brawl when the mood strikes, which is not infrequently.

This film, directed by Sunny Abberton and Macario De Souza, is a traditional documentary that makes no pretenses to be objective about its subjects. This may be due to the fact that co-director and co-writer Abberton is himself a member of the Bra Boys.

The tribe, billed in the film as the most notorious surf tribe in the world, is situated in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra from whence, I assume, comes the group’s name. The film’s sociological intent is clear from the outset as the viewer gets a quick Australian-history-for-dummies version of the country and the specific area where the film is centered. The documentary then alternates between talking head interviews, beach party and fight scenes, some surfing footage and voice-over commentary (provided by Russell Crowe).

Interestingly, unlike other films dealing with surfing that I’ve seen, this is a complete male world; there are almost no women seen, even as girlfriends or hangers-on. The one exception, and a major one, is the Abberton brothers’ grandmother, a big-hearted woman who helps a number of the young surfers. Her death during the course of the film’s story is one of the major emotional centers in the film’s depiction of this beach world.

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