Chasing Mavericks Review

Jay Moriarity is a 15 year old California boy living the life of a surfer. When he discovered that one of the biggest waves on Earth was only miles from his Santa Cruz home, he was determined to take on the powerful wave, and surf! However he couldn’t do it alone. Frosty (Gerard Butler) a local surfing legend, coached and trained Jay for 12 weeks. Together they embarked upon a wonderful friendship as we saw Jay try to fulfill his dream of surfing the biggest, most powerful wave in the world…one too big for most surfers. Chasing Mavericks is an inspirational, heartwarming true story.

Rating: 4 out of 5 buckets.
Release Date: February 26, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Mild
Will Kids Like It? Yes

See the trailer here!

Talking Points:

Frosty was a motivating trainer, friend and even a father figure for Jay. He pushed Jay and gave him the confidence he needed to fulfill his dream. Jay was also a good friend and companion for Frosty; as Frosty had many challenges as well.

Jay had a difficult life, his father left home when he was a young boy. Jay took care of his mother; he did the laundry, woke her up for work and even loaned her money when necessary.

{Spoiler} Parents need to be aware that two of the main characters die, which may be disturbing to some kids.

There are some wonderful lessons in this film, though it has a mature subject matter which centers around the various relationships. This would be a great movie to see with your kids; it will spark some great parent/child conversations regarding the challenges that life may bring, and how to handle them.

Sexual Content: Mild

We see Jay and his girlfriend passionately kiss.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Excessive

{Spoiler} Two of the main characters die, this may disturb younger kids. We see one of them lying on the kitchen floor….dead.
A man attacks Jay’s mom, Jay steps in and hits the guy…eventually the police break up the fight.
Jay and his friend get into a fight with two bullies at a pizza place.
The surfing scenes are scary as we saw many surfers in the rough waters, not knowing if they’re going to survive.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild