Link to the audio version of this post is HERE
The quintessential summer movie turns 35 this year
Nothing says summer fun like sun and sand. Or so I’m told, because I’m not a beach person. If there’s one thing Anakin was right about, it’s that sand sucks. It is coarse and it does get everywhere. If I’m at a beach, it’s going to be in October, when it’s a bit cold and the sand is more hard packed. But people seem to love it; going to the shore, going into the ocean (which I don’t understand; Shark Week is an annual reminder to not go in there). So let’s pack the car for one last summer beach trip and get into one of the most definitive summer films, Point Break.
I should preface this by saying that I’m going to be talking about the 1991 original Point Break starring Keanu Reeves (Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Toy Story 4) as the ridiculously named Johnny Utah and the late Patrick Swayze (Road House, Ghost) as surfer/criminal mastermind Bodhi. Not the absolutely joyless and terribly written remake from 2015. You probably didn’t see that one, but I have and I had originally planned to do a compare/contrast between the two, but even on the internet, the Point Break remake isn’t worth the column inches. That’s not the case with the original though.
Johnny Utah was a star quarterback through high school and college, but on the eve of going pro, he suffered a career ending injury. So, just like I did when I realized a career in professional sports was off the table (because I wasn’t good at any of them), he decided to go to law school. Unlike me, however, Johnny joins the FBI, gets assigned to the Los Angeles field office, and is partnered up with grizzled veteran and FBI iconoclast Angelo Pappas. Pappas, played by Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon, Sharknado 4), has a wild theory about a group of bank robbers known as the Ex-Presidents because they wear rubber Halloween masks of the likes of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. They are fast, they are efficient, and they are, well, professional doesn’t seem to be the right word to describe them as the first bank robbery we see them commit ends with one of the robbers mooning the security camera, but the point is that they’re very good at this. In and out in under 90 seconds, long before the police are able to respond, and no one has ever been shot in the commission a robbery. They have excellent crowd control and they’re quick and light on their feet. They only hit cash drawers and they only rob banks in the summer. So Pappas has developed this theory that his clean cut FBI colleagues think is ridiculous, but Johnny is more open to it. Pappas thinks the Ex-Presidents are surfers, robbing banks to fund their lifestyle during the height of the season. Sounds wildly specific, doesn’t it? But we’ve got a movie on now.
Lori Petty was one of my first crushes, there, I said it.
So Johnny buys a surfboard and heads to the beach to learn to surf. And in the process of learning what I view as a nearly impossible feat (I have terrible balance), he nearly drowns, but is pulled to shore by Tyler, an experienced surfer and since it was the 90s, pretty much the only woman in the movie. So you know she’s going to be the love interest because, well, the world wasn’t ready for longing glances between Gary Busey and John C. McGinley (Scrubs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), who plays his straight-laced boss. I’m not exaggerating, either. I’m pretty sure the only other named character who is a woman has fewer lines than Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis; as much as I enjoy this movie, Point Break will not go down in history as a bastion of representation in film. Unless your definition of diversity is having every kind of long haired white guy in it.
Tyler, played by the legendary Lori Petty, who starred in pivotal roles from my childhood in movies like A League of Their Own and Free Willy, as well as the cult classic Tank Girl, is eventually convinced to help him learn the basics of the board, leading us to an 80s and 90s movie staple, the training montage. Love it; if you don’t have nostalgia for the old-fashioned training montage, this movie will get you on their side. Watching Keanu Reeves try to pop up on a surfboard on the sand while experienced surfers walk by and laugh at him is a lovely way to go through a montage. It’s comforting to see someone that good looking struggle at something. Through all this, the undercover Brian finally meets Dominic Toretto, the big man in a group of street racers. I’m sorry, I meant the undercover Johnny finally meets Bodhi, the big man in a group of surfers. Bodhi is a very talented surfer who lives to get pitted and hit those sweet barrels (I used to work with a surfer, I hope I used these terms right) and is a bit of a guru to those around him. He sets the tone for every beach that he sets foot on and after he comes Johnny’s rescue when he’s jumped by a particularly aggressive group of surfers, that cements their relationship. Like when Brian saves Dom from a police raid and drinks Vince’s Corona. In case it’s not obvious, Point Break most definitely feels like the blueprint for The Fast and the Furious (though not the sequels, which have gone literally out of this world), just replace the cars with surfboards and the streets with waves.
The more you get to know Bodhi, the more you realize that he’s not just some kindhearted surf bum with an early-90s white guy understanding of Eastern philosophy. He’s dangerous. Surfing is more than life to him, it’s how he wants to die, too. This guy is operating on a completely different level from everyone else, but I’m not entirely sure if he’s ascended, obsessed, or just out of his mind. He believes that some mythical 50 year storm is going to hit a beach in Australia next year and that will result in the biggest waves in recorded history. The kind of wave you know when you paddle out towards that you’re either going to tame it, tame the power of the ocean itself, or wash up on shore days later with the rest of the detritus; mangled, and half eaten by fish. People say things are “life and death” like they’re two distinct, dichotomous options, two opposing forces at odds with one another and mutually exclusive. But for Bodhi, to say that surfing is life and death is to mean that they are one; interchangeable, fungible, molded together. There is no difference, there’s only the surf. Surfing to Bodhi is both life and death simultaneously. No wonder he’s willing to put his life and the lives of his crew on the line every time they don their rubber masks to continue to fund their wave chasing lifestyle. I know that seems like a spoiler there, but it’s not really, and not just because the movie is now 35 years old. But rather because it’s not a mystery. Point Break isn’t about Detective Johnny Utah finding clues and gathering the surfers in the parlor before revealing who did it. It’s not a whodunnit. It’s an action film through and through.
But that doesn’t mean it’s weightless. It’s not as straightforward as the FBI are the good guys and the Ex-Presidents are the bad guys. Remember, no one’s ever been hurt and all the money they take, as they remind their hostages, is federally insured. A little bit of trauma, some property damage, an afternoon ruined, and then the federal government steps in to make everyone whole again. Sure, it’s not exactly a good thing to be taking things by force that don’t belong to you, but in a way, Bodhi and his crew remind me of Dutch Van Der Linde’s gang from Red Dead Redemption. Maybe they are just outlaws, no good folks who don’t care who they hurt to get what they want. But maybe they’re just out of lockstep with society and trying to live a life as an outsider leads them down a path towards crime because the lives they want are so incongruous with how we say everyone is supposed to live. Maybe they are the ones really living while we zip up and down our freeways to jobs we don’t like. But this isn’t the crime block I did last year, nor is Point Break deep commentary on societal issues. This is summer fun and Point Break is the quintessential summer movie. It has everything you want in a summer film. The beach, the surf, the sun, wild parties, intense action sequences, even romance. This movie has something for everyone. Sure, the action isn’t exactly John Wick, but it was 1991; they had just banned smoking on international flights, it was a primitive time.
This movie is just fun and in some ways it’s even more fun now, precisely because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I only watched Point Break at the behest of my aforementioned surfer colleague, so I was well into adulthood when I saw it for the first time. Nostalgia isn’t too much at play here; it’s just a good, honest action film. It’s not going to light the world on fire and I’m not going to sit here and tell you that it’s a classic the way that Casablanca is or a future classic like 2 Fast 2 Furious, but this movie is 2 hours and 2 minutes of a good time that streams on Peacock. It is, however, rated R for language and brief nudity, so maybe let the kids watch Hoppers again instead of watching this on family movie night. It’s no shining bastion of quality writing, nor quality acting; though I’ll say that Swayze and Petty put in good performances, with Petty’s trademark raspy voice punctuating her tough-but-vulnerable character. As the chips begin to fall and the bodies begin to pile up, the movie races to a breathless conclusion that is sure to excite even modern audiences. And you get to see just how cold Bodhi can be when the facade of Buddhism falls away and all that’s left is violence and blood money. I enjoy this movie a lot and really the only reason that I prefer The Fast and the Furious to this is because I like cars and I don’t really care about surfing. In a way, Point Break is the B-movie version of Heat; the blueprint for movies to come, to iterate on, and sometimes improve upon. And for that alone, it’s worth a watch. But its historical significance to B-level action movies aside, it’s got a great summer vibe that is a great send-off to the season. And with Grand Theft Auto VI on the horizon, this could also be a fitting mood setter for your next gaming session. Point Break holds up better than most from its era, I think in large part thanks to the expert helm of Kathryn Bigelow, who would go on to direct cinematic masterpieces like The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. Sure, the representation in the film is nonexistent, but even the extras aren’t overly sexualized and neither is Lori Petty (nor Reeves and Swayze). The macho banter is largely not homophobic, which is rare for a movie of this time. And while there are many things that could be improved upon to the modern eye, nothing stands out as tremendously horrible. It’s an old movie that doesn’t make you feel bad watching it, which is a plus. Pop some corn, put your feet up, and enjoy.
Thank you all for sticking with me through this block of summer fun. It’s the first time I’ve done a themed set of posts for such a long period and trying to focus on fun was an interesting exercise for someone who believes the best comedy is born from a kernel of sadness. For a quick roadmap of what’s to come, September brings us back to school, so you know I have to have a special, a counterpart to how we opened this summer with Bad Words. After that, I’ll be gearing up for spooky season, as every October I subject myself to horror movies to find the depth beneath the terror. And in the meantime, I’ll be recording audio version versions of older posts and putting them up on YouTube as well, so new readers and listeners will have the option of audio. I’m also continuing to stream on Twitch, generally twice a week, and you can find me at twitch.tv/aslam_c. I’ve been streaming a variety of games, from Marvel Rivals to cozy games, as well as some LEGO building. If that’s something you’re interested in, I’d love to see you in chat.
No, I’ve never fired my gun in the air and gone “Arr”