Soul Surfer is the inspiring story of a surfer girl, Bethany Hamilton, who finds the courage to go back into the ocean after losing her arm to a shark attack.

I’ve got to be honest with you: I didn’t expect much of this movie. I thought it was just another drama/family movie about a girl following her dreams.

It was much better than I’d expected.

Bethany Hamilton (played by AnnaSophia Robb) is a teenage girl from Hawaii with a passion for surfing.

It’s a day like any other when she heads to the ocean with her best friend Alana (Lorraine Nicholson), Alana’s father (Hercules…uh…I mean Kevil Sorbo) and brother Byron (Jeremy Sumpter).

Then, the unthinkable happens: Bethany is attacked by a shark, and loses her arm.

Don’t give up and your dreams will come true

Of course life isn’t as simple as that. It’s just as simple as saying: “If you really want something, you’ll fight for it, no matter what.”

I don’t know about you, but whenever someone says that, I laugh to myself and think: You don’t know me. I wish life my were that easy.

Now, there is some truth to this, and Soul Surfer conveys this really well.

You know that moment when everything seems to go wrong, and everything seems to happen to you and no one else?

And you can’t help but think: you don’t know me.

This is what happens to Bethany Hamilton.

Her friends and family think they know what’s best for her, but they don’t take a moment to listen to what she wants.

Bethany (AnnaSophia Robb) and Alana (Lorraine Nicholson)

Soul Surfer surprised me, in a good way. AnnaSophia Robb’s acting is good, though I’m not sure if the Bethany Hamilton she portrayed is anything like the real Bethany Hamilton.

The supporting characters were okay, though I would have loved to see more of Bethany’s relationship with her best friend Alana.

What surprised me was how easy it seemed for Bethany to go back into the water after such a traumatic event. However, she has spent most of her life in the water, so it’s practically her second home.

The real Bethany Hamilton

I watched this movie with my mother and she immediately said this must be based on a true story. And it turned out she was right.

I’m sure I’ve been living under a rock in the past years, as I’d never heard of Bethany Hamilton. At the end of the movie they showed clips of the real Bethany Hamilton and to be honest it made me like the movie even more.

If you want to learn more about her, watch the video below.

You should watch Soul Surfer if…

  • …you like surfing.
  • …you like movies based on true stories.
  • …you want to feel inspired.

Soul Surfer is a movie that puts a smile on your face. If you’re looking for a movie that does just that, you should definitely watch this one.

Soul Surfer, reviewed by Nanda on 2012-08-07T16:00:05+00:00 rating 3.4 out of 5