Connect with us
https://yoursportsnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/call-to-1.png

Sports

'The Surfer' Mostly Sputters And Flails

Published

7 months ago

on

'The Surfer' Mostly Sputters And Flails

According to Hollywood, a surfer can be one of three things: a weed-smoking, wave-chasing airhead (Jeff Spicoli); a crunchy, woo-woo hippie (some of the penguins in the startlingly charming Surf’s Up); or an edgy, degenerate type, whose passion for adrenaline is paired with a generally violent demeanor (Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi in Point Break). The truth, as ever, is somewhere in between—you can expect even the gentlest of “soul-surfers” to hiss and fight over their home break. 

What, then, can we make of the unnamed protagonist (played by Nicholas Cage) in Lorcan Finnegan’s latest feature, The Surfer, beaten and humiliated in his quest to surf the Edenic waves of Luna Bay, the Australian beach where he grew up? Having been born there doesn’t grant him status as a local: “Don’t live here, don’t surf here,” goes the tag-line spat at him by the local crew. In the days leading up to Christmas, the surfer drives to the Bay to show his son the house where he grew up, which he is on the verge of buying back, if only he can outbid a competitive buyer. The surfer has long neglected his family, and a return to the wholesomeness of the beach—the beautiful surfing, the house perched on the cliff, the memory of an idyllic childhood—might help rebuild the relationships that have been sacrificed at the altar of his career.

Over the grueling 100 minutes that ensue, the surfer goes through a series of increasingly elaborate traps, pranks, and mindfucks orchestrated by the locals which will cause him to get bitten by a rat, walk on shards of glass, drink impotable water, contemplate murder, lose his watch, phone, and car, and pretty much go insane. “Localism is part of the culture,” an unhelpful cop tells the surfer. “It keeps undesirables out of the neighborhood.” 

Localism is what surfers call the rule of etiquette that dictates the way a visitor should carry themselves in foreign waters: respectfully, almost bashfully. It’s a mindset I know well. I grew up spending weekends on a quiet beach 70 miles outside São Paulo, where my dad is one of the long-established locals. Once, walking to the beach, we crossed paths with a young man whom, my dad told me with some amusement, he’d recently kicked out of the water. I was shocked. My dad eats flax seeds. He’s almost disturbingly contemplative. He has habits like walking barefoot on grass first thing in the morning, to “ground” himself. He never raises his voice, though his I’m disappointed look is earth-shattering. I shuddered to think of it in the water, as he unleashed it on this kid, like he didn’t want to do this but had been left with no choice. 

Like most surfers, my dad hasn’t always worked the door, as it were; he’s also been confronted, most memorably by a fuming Hawaiian local who refused to shake his hand. Along with screenwriter Thomas Martin, Finnegan stretches the stereotype of the aggressive surfer into caricature. Led by one Scott “Scally” Callahan, played gamely by Julian McMahon, the Bay Boys, as they are called, form a locals-only cult, or militia, tasked with guarding the break against intruders. The idea is that this task, along with other rituals that involve branding and taking hallucinogens, will provide the men with an outlet through which to “let out a little steam.” Scally, who is like the lunatic lovechild of Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman, believes that modern men need a way to get in touch with the animalistic impulses that have been stifled by the tyranny of emasculation. Disciples alternate between two selves: responsible, dutiful family men and violent, base freaks. The transition between selves is painful, and for Scally, that’s the point: “You must suffer to surf,” he admonishes, repeatedly. 

Finnegan had his work cut out for him when he cast, in the starring role, Nicolas Cage, America’s doyen of humiliation. Over the last couple of decades, Cage’s confused legacy—are we laughing at him, or with him?—has provided younger directors with a perfect marionette of an actor, a doll to be sadistically battered and swung around. The draw of films like 2022’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent or, to some extent, 2023’s Dream Scenario, is not necessarily Nic Cage the actor, but Nic Cage the meme.  

At one point, when the surfer is on the near edge of losing his mind, the locals and members of the larger Luna Bay community literally point and laugh at him, inviting the audience to join in. The surfer isn’t a character, or even a man; he is a vehicle for Nicolas Cage to be reduced to desperate pantomime. That’s the film’s main gimmick. The other is that, over the course of four nights, the surfer never leaves the beach parking lot, though for the majority of that time he has, at his disposal, a perfectly functioning Lexus with a full tank of gas and working air conditioning. 

The Surfer’s best insight is that localism, whatever it might mean to any particular surfer or community, can be a tool with which to wield power. The beach is public—that’s the first argument the surfer tries on the locals—but by relying on the unwritten rules of the sport, the Bay Boys can demarcate their region and govern it, however psychotically. Their members are already powerful in modern society’s most legible ways: they are white, rich, and conventionally attractive. They are the kind of guys so used to getting what they want that they feel entitled to the ocean. To dig into that psyche and expose the connections between a retrograde vision of masculinity and a sense of entitlement to land, to the water, and to nature, would be a fresh way to present the issue of localism, even more by rooting the story in a country with a fraught history of colonization. 

But by locking Cage in the parking lot, The Surfer extricates localism from identification with the landscape. Besides establishing, in a cartoonish way, that we’re in Australia (a humongous country), the specifics of Luna Bay are never explored. It could be a beach anywhere. It exists in a vacuum divorced from the context that would clarify why the Bay Boys are so determined to guard it; or, for that matter, why the surfer longs to return. It’s not entirely hard to understand, for example, why a Hawaiian local might take issue with my dad or any foreigner whose surfing trip is inextricable from a long history of colonization and exploitation. In Catherine Hardwick’s 2005 film Lords of Dogtown, the boys who guard the abandoned, rotting Pacific Park Pier in Venice Beach are so destitute that control over the break is the only sliver of power, however illusory, that they have.

I know: it’s not that deep! It’s supposed to be a farce! That much is clear; the film is obviously more committed to punishing Nicolas Cage for the viewer’s pleasure than to engaging meaningfully with any of the interesting ideas at which it gestures. In title if not in theme, The Surfer seems to be distantly referencing Frank and Eleanor Perry’s 1968 adaptation of John Cheever’s story The Swimmer, a sincere movie if there ever was one. The protagonist of that movie, Ned Merrill, is humiliated because the life he had, which he failed to nurture, is lost to him, and everyone knows. The surfer is humiliated because, lacking other options, he considers biting into a dead rat. The water fountain from which he hopes to get water is soiled with dog shit. He cries wah wah wah. In the thick of being gaslighted by the locals, he reminds himself: “I have a car. I have a job. I have a name. I have a son.” It’s all the film can do to convince us that here we have a character, but we never even learn his name. 

14
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

NCAA Volleyball Regional Schedule Set

Published

39 minutes ago

on

December 8, 2025

By


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The fourth-seeded Indiana volleyball team (25-7, 14-6 B1G) will play in the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. The NCAA announced start times and dates for next week’s regional semifinals on Sunday (Dec. 7) afternoon. The Hoosiers will play top-seeded Texas at Gregory Gymnasium on Friday (Dec. 12) afternoon at Noon ET on ESPN.

 

Following the greatest regular season in program history, IU was awarded a top-16 national seed and the chance to host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers made quick work of their first two matchups, sweeping Toledo and fifth-seeded Colorado in Bloomington to advance to the Sweet 16.

 

IU is one of five Big Ten programs remaining in the NCAA Tournament. Of the 16 schools left in the big dance, IU is one of two teams (Cal Poly) that didn’t make the big dance last year. The Hoosiers have already set a single-season program record for wins (25) and will attempt to advance to the regional final for the first time in program history.

 

The other matchup in the Austin Regional will pit second-seeded Stanford and third-seeded Wisconsin against each other. Their match will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of IU’s. The winners of both regional semifinals will meet on Sunday (Dec. 14) afternoon for a spot in the national semifinals in Kansas City.



Link

1
Continue Reading

Sports

Louisville volleyball NCAA Tournament bracket, Texas A&M vs UofL game

Published

55 minutes ago

on

December 8, 2025

By


Dec. 6, 2025Updated Dec. 7, 2025, 6:08 a.m. ET

After defeating Marquette 3-2 in the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night, No. 2 Louisville will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, and take on No. 3 Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 at 7 p.m. Friday.

This will be the Cardinals’ seventh consecutive regional appearance but first with Dan Meske as head coach.

Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with the match from home:

No. 2 seed Louisville versus No. 3 seed Texas A&M will be broadcast live on ESPN or ESPN2.

Authenticated subscribers can access ESPN2 via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.

Those without cable can access ESPN2 via streaming services, with Fubo offering a free trial.

Buy Louisville volleyball tickets here

After defeating Marquette, UofL will play Texas A&M in the Lincoln, Nebraska, Regional Friday at 7 pm. Here’s a look at the tournament schedule:

  • First and second rounds: Dec. 4-6
  • Regionals: Dec. 11-14
  • Semifinals: Dec. 18 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri
  • Championship: Dec. 21 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri



Link

2
Continue Reading

Sports

The Omaha World-Herald’s Nebraska All-Class volleyball teams

Published

1 hour ago

on

December 8, 2025

By







Link

2
Continue Reading

Sports

Men’s T&F Opens Season at Diplomat Open

Published

4 hours ago

on

December 7, 2025

By



Lancaster, PA (December 6, 2025) – The DeSales University men’s track & field team opened the 2025-26 indoor T&F season competing at the Diplomat Open at Franklin & Marshall College on Friday.

The Bulldogs posted 10 MAC qualfying times/marks in the meet.

Among the qualifying times were junior Bryce Guthier taking second in the 400-meters with a time of 52.08. It is the fifth fastest time in indoor history.  Senior Davis Trump also qualified in the 5K with a time of 16:20.32.

In the field events, DSU posted eight qualfying marks. Junior Weston Simak qualified for the MAC Championships in both the long jump (6.52m) and triple jump (13.72m). His triple jump mark was the second best in team history.  First-year Luke Heimann also qualfied in the triple jump (11.86m).

Junior Jonathan Castronovo took home first place in the long jump with a mark of 6.58m, the second best long jump in team history.

First-year John Amoretti qualified in the shot put (12.33m), seniors Jonathan Eudja and Giovanni Wellington qualified in the weight throw with marks of 14.85m and 14.23m. First-year Ryan Rodriguez also quallified in the weight throw (11.89m).

The Bulldogs won’t return to action till the New Year at the Blue and Grey Invitational on Jan. 17th.

 



Link

1
Continue Reading

Sports

Women’s Track & Field Turns in Multiple High Marks to Begin Season at Cornell

Published

4 hours ago

on

December 7, 2025

By


RESULTS

ITHACA, N.Y. –

The Ithaca College women’s track & field team opened its 2025-26 season over the weekend as the Bombers made the short trip across town to compete in the Greg Page Relays hosted by Cornell University on December 5-6.

Lola Gitlin posted a time of 10:25.57 in the 3000-meter run to finish third overall.

Rachel Larson was a fourth place finisher with a time of 8.58 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. That time is currently No. 1 in Division III after the opening weekend of the season.

Aynisha McQuillar took fifth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.61 seconds. McQuillar also ran in the 60-meter dash and posted the 11th fastest time in DIII during the prelim with a performance of 7.78 seconds.

Lyla Powers was fifth in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:21.75.

Lily Seyfert claimed fifth in the shot put with a heave of 12.78 meters, which is currently ninth in the nation.

Bree Boyle and Erin Eastwood each cleared 3.54 meters in the pole vault, which is tied for 11th on the Division III performance list.

Alexis Brown turned in a leap of 11.02 meters in the triple jump for the 17th best mark in the country.

Ithaca is off for the remainder of 2025 and will return to Cornell on January 10 for the Southern Tier Invitational.

 



Link

1
Continue Reading

Sports

Men’s Track & Field Opens Indoor Season at Cornell Greg Page Relays

Published

5 hours ago

on

December 7, 2025

By


RESULTS

ITHACA, N.Y. –

The Ithaca College men’s track & field team opened its 2025-26 season over the weekend as the Bombers made the short trip across town to compete in the Greg Page Relays hosted by Cornell University on December 5-6.

Anik Vossschulte claimed third in the 200-meter dash in a time of 23.32 seconds, while Jacob Antilety was seventh at 23.71 seconds.

Matt Lokshin posted a time of 8.65 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles to place third in the event. Aidan Irwin took fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.70 meters.

Quinten Lewis posted a mark of 13.73 meters in the triple jump to place fourth and Sebastien-Oliver Lacrete was sixth at 12.68 meters, while Evan Cherry secured fifth in the long jump with a leap of 6.84 meters.

IC’s 4×400-meter relay team of Damian Simmonds, Griffin Lupes, Noah McKibben and George Nilson placed sixth in 3:34.49.

Luke Ellor finished sixth in the shot put with a mark of 14.40 meters.

Three Bombers finished within the top eight in the 500-meter dash as Brad Kellogg was sixth in 1:09.73, Peter Tysiak followed in seventh with 1:10.74 and Matthew DeJulio was next at 1:11.59.

Kaiden Chandler and Luke Ferrer posted times of 4:41.29 and 4:53.44 in the mile to finish in seventh and eighth.

Raf Campanile was seventh in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.25 meters.

Ithaca is off for the remainder of 2025 and will return to Cornell on January 10 for the Southern Tier Invitational.

 



Link

3
Continue Reading

Most Viewed Posts

Trending