Drift

2013

Drift

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

32%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 19

56%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,786

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Drift Photos

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Movie Info

Australia, 1970s. The Kelly brothers, Andy (28) and Jimmy (22), have one great passion: riding big waves. As kids, their mother escaped from Sydney to Margaret River, a sleepy coastal town with some of the world's most challenging and dangerous waves. For the next 12 years, the boys perfected their surfing skills, always searching for the perfect ride. Free-spirited Jimmy is a gifted surfer and in novator but he starts to slip toward a life of crime to help the family out of debt. Andy makes a big decision. Quitting a stable job, he bets on Jimmy's surf inventions and his own business skills and launches a backyard surf gear business. They rethink board design, craft homemade wetsuits and sell their merchandise out of their van. Encouraged by their new friends, travelling bohemian surf photographer and filmmaker JB (Sam Worthington) and his gorgeous Hawaiian surfer companion, Lani, who stirs the two brothers' hearts, they start to seek ways to expand. After they get mixed up with a local drug dealer, it looks like everything they built up, will be ruined... Set in breathtaking locations and inspired by the true story of Australia's legendary surfwear moguls, the film chronicles the rise of surf brands and the expansion of the laidback surf attitude as a global lifestyle. A story of passion and corruption, friendship and loyalty, deadly addictions and fractured relationships, Drift tells a tale of courage and the will to survive against all odds.(c) Official Site
  • Rating:
    R (for language and drug content)
  • Genre:
    Drama
  • Directed By:
    Morgan O'Neill, Ben Nott
  • Written By:
    Morgan O'Neill
  • In Theaters:
     limited
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Box Office:
    $444,465
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Wrekin Hill

Cast

Myles Pollard
as Andy Kelly
Xavier Samuel
as Jimmy Kelly
Sam Worthington
as JB
Robyn Malcolm
as Kat Kelly
Lesley-Ann Brandt
as Lani
Aaron Glenane
as Gus
Steve Bastoni
as Miller
Maurie Ogden
as Percy
Sean P. Keenan
as Young Andy Kelly
Kai Arbuckle
as Young Jimmy Kelly
Harrison Buckland-Crook
as Young Gus
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News & Interviews for Drift

Critics Consensus: 2 Guns Shoots Wildly, But Its Stars Connect
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Critic Reviews for Drift

All Critics (19) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (6) | Rotten (13)

  • The acting is quite good, natural and fresh, and the surfing footage is magnificent. "Drift," though, is a weird mix, and not always successful.

    August 7, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

    Sheila O'Malley

    RogerEbert.com
    Top Critic

  • This poor-surfers-make-good drama from Morgan O'Neill and Ben Nott relies more than it should on toned thighs and taut gluteals. Be grateful; there's nothing to see on dry land that's anywhere near as compelling.

    August 2, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/5

    Jeannette Catsoulis

    New York Times
    Top Critic

  • I'm a sucker for films with great surfing footage, let alone wacky '70s hairstyles. But this overlong, clich-infested Aussie period drama tested my patience.

    August 2, 2013 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

    Lou Lumenick

    New York Post
    Top Critic

  • Has genial moments, but they're lost in a sea of boilerplate incidents and prefab characters. Surfing sequences are easily as striking as what we see in documentaries about the sport.

    August 1, 2013 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

    Walter V. Addiego

    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic

  • The leads are engaging, and Pollard in particular projects an easygoing, friendly machismo. Where the movie routinely disappoints, though, is in pursuit of a perfect storm of conflict story lines ...

    August 1, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…

    Robert Abele

    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic

  • Writer and co-director Morgan O'Neill based Drift on true surfer stories from the era; however, the movie mostly comes across as a grab bag of tired tropes.

    August 1, 2013 | Rating: C- | Full Review…

    Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

    AV Club
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (19)

Audience Reviews for Drift

  • Apr 22, 2014
    Two Brothers. One Dream. No Rules. Very Good Film! Drift is the latest surf film paying tribute to and giving us a glimpse into the Australian surf life when popular surf brands were just beginning. The acting is fine all round. Myles Pollard, who also co-produced the film, is solid as the responsible older brother. Xavier Samuel, in one of his best performances, brings charisma and energy to his role. Sam Worthington is excellent. He is perfect as the free-spirited hippie. He seemed to enjoy this role more than some of his recent work and it was wonderful to see him in an Aussie film again. The film does a great job of bringing the 70's back to life. You gotta love JB's colourful bus and the classic kombi vans! The surfing photography is exciting and breathtaking, and the cinematography by Geoffrey Hall is simply beautiful. The soundtrack, a mix of 70's classics and more recent tunes, really adds to the cool laid back vibe. The cast and crew looked like they had fun making this film and it shows. A snapshot into the Aussie surf life, it was a highly enjoyable and upbeat movie experience. In the 70s two brothers battle killer waves, conservative society and ruthless bikers to kick-start the modern surf industry.
    Manu G Super Reviewer
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