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Matthew McConaughey, Alexie Gilmore, Jeffrey Nordling, Woody Harrelson, Scott Glenn ... see more see more... , Ramon Rodriguez , Willie Nelson

Hands on a Hard Body director S.R. Bindler directs this wave-twisting tale of a soul-searching surfer (Matthew McConaughey) in the midst of an existential crisis. Steve Addington (McConaughey) is an h... read more read more...erb-toking long-boarder with a keen sense of balance and a mellow outlook on life. Upon returning to his hometown of Malibu to spend the summer with old friends, Steve begins to sense that the good vibes he remembers as a boy have been hopelessly corrupted by the powers that be. When the earthen surfer is faced with the prospect of expanding into virtual-reality video games and reality television or risk being rendered irrelevant, he opts to keep riding the majestic Southern California waves rather than participate in this new digital reality. Fate seems to intercede, however, when the ocean simply ceases to produce any suitable waves. His finances dried up, his sponsored expense accounts suddenly canceled, and his friends flocking off to bluer pastures, the surfer without a wave suddenly realizes that he has but two choices in life: he can either sit tight and try to keep his sanity until the waves come rolling in again, or finally give in to the Man and his intoxicating world of artificial amusements. Perhaps with a little wisdom from his trusted manager (Woody Harrelson), his aging mentor (Scott Glenn), his guardian angel (Willie Nelson), and his newfound muse (Alexie Gilmore), Addington can somehow manage to maintain his mellow just long enough to put it all into perspective and get back to the basics. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

23% liked it

7,097 ratings

Critics

0% liked it

18 critics

R, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: S.R. Bindler

Release Date: September 5, 2008

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DVD Release Date: December 30, 2008

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Stats: 443 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (443)

  • jjnxn
    August 13, 2010
    jjnxn
    Dumb but harmless. Go into it with no expectations but that it will be a throwback to late 70's-early 80's mindless flicks like The Malibu Bikini Shop and it's ilk and you're in the right frame of mind for this.
  • theylovealexis
    July 8, 2010
    theylovealexis
    It's a pretty alright summer movie. One of those 'do what you love and the rest will fall in to place' films. I can dig it and I can't get enough of the surfer vibe ever since i saw POINT BREAK LIVE.
  • fb733768972
    March 23, 2010
    fb733768972
    OH MY GOD! This movie is so bad that it deserves to be likeable for laughing at. Matthew McConaughey digs an extremely large hole to die in in this film. He is one of the worst actors ever. He was funny in Fool's Gold, but then he went to bed. This movie is one of the worst movie... read mores I've ever seen period. Damn I wish I could have seen this coming before I watched it! There is no reason why it should have been thought of!
  • sononothing
    December 4, 2009
    sononothing
    Ah, the holy grail of Matthew McConaughey shirtless flicks. I'm not even going to go over the plot of this film because there is no plot. There's just this massive, disemboweled thing quivering on screen for 75 minutes (there's 10 minutes of credits and goat footage at the end. I... read more shit you not). This film is so horrible that if someone had shown it to a prisoner at Gitmo then said person showing this film would justly be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Yes, this movie is an unholy thing that needs to be purged from society at once. Gregory Peck should stab this fucking thing at the altar to make sure there are no sequels. I've caught myself drooling since watching this film, not that I'm hot for the stars bod, but I've been rendered brain damaged by this steaming piece of shit film. I'm learning to use the left side of my body again and I've almost stopped shitting my pants. This film kills more brain cells than Lee Harvey Oswald.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    April 1, 2009
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Tubular, awesome, cowabunga dude!!! jaja this is a dude surfer movie very clearly. Longboarding soul-surfer Steve Addington returns to Malibu for the summer to find his cool hometown vibe corrupted. New sponsorship demands Addington to expand into Virtual Reality Video Games and ... read moreReality TV. Unwilling to participate in this new digital-reality, he chooses to spend his summer surfing his home break. But in a twist-of-fate, the waves go flat and stay flat. Out of money, his expense-accounts canceled, and betrayed by his buddies, Addington is backed into a harsh corner. He must endure the insanity that comes with no waves or give into "the Man" and his new, reality-altering machines. Aided by his manager, his mentor, his guardian-angel and his summer lover, Addington has a chance of keeping his cool, but it's not going to be easy. The dude needs a wave, and there's never been a drought like this.
  • mwilliams078
    January 4, 2009
    mwilliams078
    Surfer Dude with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson has some funny scenes but overall not worth seeing. A movie that even at the 90 min run time seemed a bit dragged out.
  • SC007
    August 1, 2009
    SC007
    From viewing the trailer for the film, I had a feeling that I wasn't gonna like the film and after seeing the film, I was right. McConaughey has to stop playing these kinds of roles. He comes off as a really bad impersonation of Patrick Swayze's character from Point Break. Both h... read moreim and Woody Harrellson were much better in Ed TV than this film. The only positive thing about this film, is Jeffrey Nordling, who does a good job, given what he has to work with, and makes this film watchable.
  • wbgoose13
    October 26, 2008
    wbgoose13
    An exceedingly mellow mid-life crisis comedy, brah.
  • jim222001us
    November 28, 2009
    jim222001us
    I think the Matthew McConaughey that showed talent in a Time to Kill is long gone. Now, I think he just works-out, lights up a joint and yells...Action! This movie is right up his alley....an hour and 28 minutes of being shirtless.

    The plot ? Matthew McConaughey plays a sur... read morefer, he smokes weed, has sex a lot and walks around shirtless through-out. There's also a lot of T&A. There's not much surfing since there hasn't been many waves of late in the film. There's mostly just scenes of him doing virtual surfing, but he rather just do the real thing and be a surfer....dude!. The movie is dull. If you want to see a movie that has great surfing scenes, then check out Point Break.
  • youngnastyman88
    November 15, 2011
    youngnastyman88
    This is a complete fucking mess. Even the attraction of Mathew McConaughey being shirtless all the way through can't help it one bit. Marked at 85 minutes but you get at least 10 minutes of credits. That's pretty lame. I expected some stoner comedy and teachings of the surfer's p... read morehilosophy. I got none of that. Despite the claimed genre of comedy, this only barely qualifies. Aside from a few funny lines here and there, this is really not a funny movie. It doesn't even seem to be intended as such. Perhaps it was supposed to be a surfing movie instead, which it might have accomplished, if not for the remarkable lack of actual scenes involving people surfing. So I guess sadly Blue Crush remains the best surfer movie out there. Instead I got zero plot and a character who just wonders aimlessly. It's as if they gave him a bong and followed him with a camera. But hey, maybe I just don't have enough laid-back beach bum in me to appreciate something like this. It was after all a good-looking production, with good acting, lots of hot women in bikinis and lots without, and pretty beach scenery. But then again you can get that from an issue of National Geographic. So skip this one and don't look back.

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Critic Reviews

Ben Lyons
November 5, 2008
Ben Lyons, At the Movies

The film looks more like a collection of home movies as opposed to a professional piece of cinema. Full Review

Ben Mankiewicz
November 5, 2008
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies

It felt like we were watching a rough cut. Full Review

Dennis Harvey
September 15, 2008
Dennis Harvey, Variety

[A] hapless, laughless movie. Full Review

Neely Tucker
September 12, 2008
Neely Tucker, Washington Post

You can stick around for the only funny line, which involves a breakfast burrito, but the smart surfer would head for the hills and Willie's goat ranch. Full Review

Louis B. Parks
September 12, 2008
Louis B. Parks, Houston Chronicle

Surfer, Dude is a bizarre throwback. It feels 25-30 years out of date and seems to be meant to be watched on VHS, oops, make that DVD, while stoned. Full Review

Mario Tarradell
September 12, 2008
Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News

Willie and ganja, yes, yes, the cliches abound. Full Review

Stephen Farber
September 9, 2008
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter

[A] lackluster vanity production.

Kevin Carr
March 5, 2009
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

The problem that Surfer, Dude faces is that in its attempt to be a stoner comedy, it forgot to add the comedy elements. Full Review

Peter Canavese
December 28, 2008
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews

A celebration of unrealistic lifestyles, which makes it exactly the wrong film for our times. [Blu-ray] Full Review

Edward Havens
September 17, 2008
Edward Havens, FilmJerk.com

The number of artistically successful surfing movies can be counted on one hand, and the majority of those are documentaries. Full Review

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    • Steve Addington: I'm not some ass clown in a green room.
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