To the best of my recollection, it wasn't explicitly stated in last year's surfing flick, Soul Surfer, that the title comes from a commonly used term to describe the few big wave surfers who truly do it for the love and spirituality of the experience. Bethany Hamilton, the girl who lost her arm to a shark in the film was considered a soul surfer, and so was surfing star Jay Moriarty, whose life is chronicled in the new biopic, Chasing Mavericks.
Formerly titled Of Men and Mavericks, the first trailer has been released and presents Moriarty(Jonny Weston) as a true believer who wants desperately to surf the legendary waves at Mavericks, a coastal California spot located in Half Moon Bay.. Gerard Butler plays Rick "Frosty" Hesson, Moriarty's father figure and beach bum Buddha who trains him for the physical and mental grind Mavericks inflicts. Moriarty's actual father had been a Green Beret who got his son into surfing at an early age, and by the age of 16 he was a Mavericks regular. Unfortunately he died just a day before his 23rd birthday in a freak free diving accident.
Surf movies are hard to screw up cinematically, but the material looks a little by-the-numbers. Soul Surfer had an earnestness to it that was endearing and is sorely lacking in this trailer. Directed by Curtis Hanson(8 Mile), Chasing Mavericks rides into theaters on October 26th. Check out the trailer below...[MTV]
