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Surfwise

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Surfwise (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 42

Fresh: 41

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 7.4/10

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and some sexual material.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Sports/Recreation

Theatrical Release:May 9, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $177,980

Synopsis: One need not be a surfing fanatic to find something interesting in SURFWISE, Doug Pray's thought-provoking documentary about the legendary and unconventional Paskowitz family. The first family in... One need not be a surfing fanatic to find something interesting in SURFWISE, Doug Pray's thought-provoking documentary about the legendary and unconventional Paskowitz family. The first family in surfing became famous for its large size, for earning countless trophies, and for its eccentric leader, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz. Once an admired figure in the medical community, Dorian decided while at the height of his success to leave it all behind, heading for a life on the beach. While traveling the world in search of the next great wave, Dorian met and married Juliette, who shortly began birthing their nine children. Born in quick succession and never placed in school, the kids were raised in the ocean and in an ever-moving camper. Though they seemed unconventional to outsiders, their atypical routine was actually highly controlled by Dorian, who wanted to raise his family the way animals live, free of the material world. The film takes viewers on a turbulent ride through the family's complex history, first focusing on its patriarch and then slowly moving through the years with commentary by the family's seven now-grown children. Careful never to judge, SURFWISE simply presents the story as experienced by those on the inside. Even at age 85, Dorian appears before the camera outspoken and sure as ever that the extreme way he raised his children was a gift to them. Scenes of complaint by the adult children are countered by a hopeful reunion at the end. Though Pray doesn't break any new filmmaking ground here, he chooses an intriguing subject that, in turn, prompts viewers to leave the film looking at family dynamics, tradition, and personal sacrifice in a new way. [More]

Director: Doug Pray

Director: Doug Pray
Producer: Graydon Carter, Tommy Means, Matthew Weaver, Jonathan Paskowitz
Composer: John Dragonetti
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Release:

Jul 29, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Legendary surfer, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, abandoned a successful medical practice to withdraw from the lifestyle of mainstream America. But unlike other American searchers such as Thoreau and Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride, all eleven of them living in a 24-foot camper. The family spent their days living by Doc's rules on health, fitness, sexuality, and above all surfing. The Paskowitzs' prove that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn't run out of frontiersmen.
  • Source: Magnolia Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for Surfwise

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    New Bohemian lifestyle: good, bad, or neutral?

    Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
    04/21/09
    Marty Mapes
    Movie Habit

    This documentary about a famous family of nomadic surfers is fascinating not only because of the certifiable oddball patriarch, but also because of his endlessly creative offspring.

    Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
    02/11/09
    Robert Roten
    Laramie Movie Scope

    The fallout decades later provides the drama in this documentary by Doug Pray, who lets his eccentric octogenarian subject off a little too easy.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
    12/17/08
    Andrea Gronvall
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Intriguing family story of the sunny and dark sides of extreme home-schooling by surfing, through a trove of photos, home movies, and reminiscences, but little insight.

    Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
    12/07/08
    Nora Lee Mandel
    Film-Forward.com

    Surfwise will make you hug your parents a little harder the next time you see them.

    Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | comment Comment
    12/04/08
    Christian Toto
    What Would Toto Watch?

    Provocative but even-handed subculture lifestyle film.

    Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    11/30/08
    Dennis Schwartz
    Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    Doug Pray, has made a fascinating look at a man who not only was a great revolutionary, but a pure human being.

    Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
    10/17/08
    Austin Kennedy
    Sin Magazine

    Pray's fast-paced editing matches the Paskowitzes' rootless existence, though at times it's difficult to keep track of who's who.

    Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
    08/01/08
    Sean Means
    Salt Lake Tribune

    The most fascinating parts of the movie explore how the Paskowitz children -- who are now in their 30s and 40s -- continue to adjust to a more 'normal' lifestyle.

    Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
    07/31/08
    Jeff Vice
    Deseret News, Salt Lake City

    A provocative documentary about a man who dropped out to follow a dream that gradually evolved into something not unlike a nightmare.

    Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
    07/18/08
    Joe Leydon
    Houston Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Not just the story of one man's obsessive quest to find harmony on a plank of wood, Surfwise offers a cautionary tale about parenting, homeschooling (camper-schooling, actually), sibling rivalries and family sacrifice.

    Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
    06/26/08
    Steven Rea
    Philadelphia Inquirer
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Surfwise is a graceful, searching film that seems to have missed no opportunity to reveal truths about parents and children and how they come to understand each other.

    Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
    06/20/08
    Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
    St. Paul Pioneer Press

    The film's director, Doug Pray, has been able to track down each and every Paskowitz child, and he weaves their memories together with old home movies, still photos and news clippings to create an evocative portrait of their lives.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    06/20/08
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A riveting documentary that focuses more on weird family dynamics than big waves.

    Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
    06/19/08
    Colin Covert
    Minneapolis Star Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Some documentarians think like essayists, propagandists, abstract painters, or magazine reporters. Doug Pray approaches his documentaries as though he's writing books.

    Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
    06/19/08
    Noel Murray
    AV Club

    The unorthodox upbringing of the Paskowitz clan is the subject of Surfwise, the story of a family who lived on the road, camped at the beachfront and fashioned its own vanguard version of 1960s-'70s alternative lifestyles.

    Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
    06/19/08
    Sid Smith
    Chicago Tribune
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    ...captures both the lure of the proto-hippie life and the often unresolved tensions...

    Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
    06/19/08
    Jim Lane
    Sacramento News & Review

    Surfwise spills the gripes, the frustrations and the pain onto the screen like damaged driftwood finally feeling the steadiness of shore after a long, stormy voyage at sea.

    Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
    06/16/08
    Larry Ratliff
    San Antonio Express-News

    There are too many unanswered questions and a suspicious forced happy ending, but Surfwise is still a fascinatingly voyeuristic and emotionally powerful movie.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    06/13/08
    Peter Hartlaub
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    In the end, Surfwise is a fascinating portrait of a family that manages to be both radical and conventional, divided but still tightly bound by blood.

    Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
    06/08/08
    Beth Accomando
    KPBS.org
     
     
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