“It’s not tragic to die doing what you love,” Patrick Swayze tells Keanu Reeves in the original “Point Break.”
The documentary “Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton” puts a sunny spin on that sentiment, portraying Mr. Hamilton — a big-wave surfer regarded as one of the greatest — as a daredevil optimist who never saw a giant breaker he didn’t want to ride.
The director, Rory Kennedy (“Last Days in Vietnam”), depicts Mr. Hamilton as an innovator as well as a star. We learn how he pioneered using Jet Skis to tow surfers to unreachable peaks and still experiments with retrofitting boards. He conquered waves thought to be unconquerable and performed feats of derring-do off Tahiti and Maui...
But the documentary stirs up most of its excitement in the surfing footage, of which there is plenty. The imagery, especially the aerial shots, gives a sense of Mr. Hamilton’s precision and how close he comes to wiping out.
By BEN KENIGSBERG, New York Times
WATCH THE MOVIE from 22nd Sofia Film Fest's Sports Programme >>> it's LAST SCREENING is on March 25 (Sunday) - CINEMA HOUSE - 20:45