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Sonia Darrin, Rabbit Kekai, Sunny Garcia, Andy Irons, Taylor Knox ... see more see more... , Israel "Izzy" Paskowitz , Jonathon Paskowitz , Bonga Perkins , Kelly Slater , Brian Urquhart , Steve Pezman , Moses Zyus Paskowitz II , Kala Alexander , Wayne A. Brown , Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz M.D. , David Paskowitz , Abraham Paskowitz , Adam Paskowitz , Salvador Paskowitz , Navah Paskowitz , Joshua Paskowitz , Michael Tracy , Juliette Paskowitz , Hunter Knox , Marc Occhilapo , Adrian Paskowitz , Woody Brown , Orian Kancepolsky , Naomi Kancepolsky , Shaul Ziner , Delilah Paskowitz , Terry Tracy , Phyllis Tracy , Wolf Walther , Max Walther , Aviva Walther , John Henry Walther , Nina Poskowitz , Rodney Frias , Isaiah Paskowitz , Danielle Paskowitz , Elijah Paskowitz , Nancy Paskowitz , Doug Sawin , Phaedra Paskowitz , Arthur Rashkovan , Noah Zane Paskowitz , Jacob Zion Paskowitz , Tracey Paskowitz , Kristin Paskowitz , Halo Paskowitz , Shelly Paskowitz , Levi Paskowitz , Jeff Antoci , Jeff Tallett , Makua Rothman , Eddie Rothman , Stephanie Riedel , Shai Pniel , Alexander , Allaire , Janna Barker , Austin Beller , John Michael , Hannah Davich , Laura Davich , Ben Fassbaugh , Kainalu Froiseth , Bryce Dallas Howard , Cole Howard , Hayden Howard , Howard Jackson , Sofie Howard , Caia Jaisle , Ryan Krutz , John Nugent Hayward , Margaret Nugent , Kate Orford , Robert Orford , Alexis Picard , Taylor Henry , Christine , Caleb Wilborn , Judd Williams , Nisan Agbaria , Ronen Armony , Scandar Copti , Maya Dauber , Thomas A. Drazin M.D. , Teene Froseith , Avi Harel , Jen Homcy , Malia Jones , Brendan Lee , Gilad Lewandowski , Solly J. Melzer , Tamar Melzer , Mofid , Mahumud , Ronen Raz , Paul Palenapa , Norman Palenapa , Josef Roiter , Haim Sakal , Sheikh Sliman Abu Hamid , Abedella Sirri , Erica Spangler , Crystal Thornburg , Josh Tracy , Mary Urquhart , Elon Vasdias , Gali Zine , Chris Owens

As far as raw eccentricity is concerned, few American families could top the Paskowitzes. The patriarch, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, began life on a commendable, even enviable course, with an M.D. under h... read more read more...is arm, rippling sandy-haired good looks, and experience almost single-handedly teaching the country of Israel how to surf. But in the years to follow, bitterness and inveterate disappointment ensued as Dr. Paskowitz tried to settle into a conventional existence. Two broken marriages and a medical career that Dorian would later describe as "miserable" left him clawing his way out, desperate for an "alternative" lifestyle. He soon met, courted, and married his third wife, a ravishing, sexy young woman named Juliette; these two free spirits jointly decided that they would live life, budding family in-tow, on the open road, in a series of low-budget trailers. As one child after another cropped up over the course of a decade, the family toured the country winning one surfing competition after another, and Dr. Paskowitz accepted low-rent medical jobs for the poor that reeled in little to no income. In theory, this all seemed idealistic, even utopian; in reality, Dorian Paskowitz was reportedly a severe disciplinarian who denied his children the benefits of school and financial security, forced everyone to stick to an almost unbearable diet of a gruel-like substance, and -- even more alarmingly -- felt comfortable having open and noisy sex with his wife, with the children only a few feet away. In time, as one child after another grew up, left the clan, and attempted to survive, they found it difficult, if not impossible to function in the day-to-day world without the education, social skills, and monetary know-how that so many young adults take for granted. With his documentary Surfwise, filmmaker Doug Pray tells the Paskowitzes' strange, bewildering, and ultimately heartbreaking story via incisive interviews with family members, still photographs, and telling archival footage. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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63% liked it

35,202 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

45 critics

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Doug Pray

Release Date: September 1, 2007

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DVD Release Date: July 29, 2008

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Flixster Reviews (271)

  • blkbomb
    July 16, 2011
    blkbomb
    After watching Surfwise; I don't know what to think of "Doc" and the way he raised his children. All I know is that I wouldn't have wanted to grow up that way. Doc seems like he had the best intentions, but still have this feeling of hate towards the way he chose to bring up his ... read morechildren. I don't understand how he can think he did the right thing. He closed them off to the world and prevented them from getting an education. He wants us to believe that they got the education they needed and that public education is not important.

    I liked listening to his kids talk about their experiences and how it affected them, but I hated having to listen to Doc speak his weird views on life. Even with how I feel about Doc's choices and beliefs; I still don't think he is a horrible father. He was with his kids, and he obviously loved them. He just didn't allow them the basic freedoms most kids have. He kids called him a dictator.

    Surfwise is a well-made and entertaining documentary about a "different" family and the ways it affected all of them.
  • Beefy
    March 29, 2009
    Beefy
    At once engaging and infuriating, this documentary shows both the good side to the Paskowitz family upbringing, and the bad. Managed to bring a tear to my eye at the end, but I still could find little sympathy for "Doc".
  • fb1144932598
    February 12, 2010
    fb1144932598
    A sad film chronicling the unconventional lifestyle of one of surfing's leading families. Sad, because although their childhood was an idyllic bohemian dream that most kids would die for, none of the Paskowitz kids were prepared for life. Still, it was interesting to hear each of... read more them talk about the way they lived, and to hear Doc Paskowitz, a Stanford educated doctor, talk about his philosophy and explain why he raised his family as he did. Interspersed with the interviews, was what appeared to be home-movie footage and newspaper clippings of the family as they lived the adventure of raising nine children as nomads and traveling the continent in a 24-foot motor home.
  • gator681
    May 12, 2009
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Surfwise" is an engaging, if not substantive, documentary about Dorian ' Doc' Paskowitz who graduated from Stanford University with a medical degree but fearing the good life, dropped out and took up surfing. After introducing surfing to Israel and failing ... read moreto enlist in the country's paratroopers, he proceeded to get married for the second time to Jeanette. Together, they would eventually have nine children who were all raised in a 24 foot camper, traveling wherever his whims took them while basically focusing on surfing. These cramped conditions forced them to maintain a certain level of hygiene and the lack of privacy made the parents' energetic sex life a bit disturbing to everyone else. As hard as life was due to being perpetually broke, nobody starved. They eventually settled down to a degree with the establishment of a surfing camp and the children became expert surfers, winning their share of trophies.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]In this tale of man versus society, all good things must come to an end. And whereas I admire Dorian for finding another path, it is not for everyone which is the conclusion his kids came to as they became adults. However, his idea of an education did not prepare them for life in a structured world, most settling for life in music or on the waves. No matter how tyrannical or possibly abusive Dorian was, all nine of his children participate in the documentary but it has been ten years since they have all been together in the same place.[/font]
  • KLFilmmaker
    January 3, 2009
    KLFilmmaker
    Insightful & candid doc on legendary surfer Dorian Paskowitz and his freakishly large family. It delves into Dorian's lifestyle and beliefs and the effects it had/has on his kids.
  • Dracula787
    November 7, 2008
    Dracula787
    A recent documentary about a hippie surfer family. The film talks about the life and times of the eleven member Paskowitz family that roamed the country looking for surf spots, the kids were not enrolled in school or really raised to deal with the outside world. Through home vi... read moredeos, old photographs, archival news stories, and newly shot interviews with all the family member, the documentary gauges what this type of upbringing was like and how it affected their adult lives. The film raises interesting questions about the morality of raising a family in an alternative lifestyle, one that is legitimately thought to be superior, but which goes against what is needed to live in society. I would have liked a more detailed narrative of the individuals life, but it?s probably for the best that it goes for a breezy running time instead.
  • zdravkoduck
    June 10, 2008
    zdravkoduck
    Surwise opened right away their weren't any previews and I was a little suprised it only took an hour and twenty minutes to get through. Doc "Dorian" Paskowitz an established doctor had a dream to seek truth and knowledge he then quit his practice and traveled to Tel Aviv Israel ... read moreand would you believe tuaght locals how to surf...so lesson 1 Israel has rad swells! Wonderful anecdotes enjoyable music and great TRUE story..so go see it, It's in Hillcrest so cover up...
  • HeroPK
    August 19, 2010
    HeroPK
    Everybody has thought at one time what it would be like to live an alternative lifestyle. This movie focuses on a once successful doctor that takes his family on the road surfing, and home schooled them in surfing. I admire this lust for life experiances over chasing superficia... read morel achievements of society. There are also some weired openess involed with living a van with 8 kids and growing up with a narrow point of view. The film also doesn't shy away from the pitfalls of this experiment. The best part is we get a long arc of this family that is now grown up.
  • HuskersNC949597
    June 13, 2010
    HuskersNC949597
    Genuinely interesting people for the most part, and while I suppose it is semi-important to understand where Dr. Paskowitz was coming from in raising his family, I'm still not entirely sure I needed to know some of the specifics (talkin' 'bout his revelations in Israel, with 93 d... read moreifferent ladies or whatever.)
  • natashaguest1
    May 16, 2009
    natashaguest1
    I spent the first half of this film wishing I had a pair big enough to do this with my family. The second half is full of what's wrong with raising nine kids in a camper and never sending them to school. It felt like a betrayal to learn that Doc can be a dickhead dad, but he coul... read mored have been a dickhead dad in the suburbs. While capitalizing on his male privilege to be domineering and something of a cult leader helps him live outside the mainstream, I don't believe it's a quality necessarily inherent to doing it. I think it's all too easy to showcase the craziness and hurt of families raised in a non-conformist manner and say ' see, don't do this, step in line.' Really, I'm not writing off what Doc did to his kids (the son that wanted to go the medical school but was too far behind in his education to do it is absolutely heartbreaking), but I'm walking away from this film inspired to do what I can to raise my kids to question the status quo. Will I keep them out of school? No. Will I take them to surf lessons to learn the beauty of catching a wave? Oh, hell yes.

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Critic Reviews

Andrea Gronvall
December 17, 2008
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

The fallout decades later provides the drama in this documentary by Doug Pray, who lets his eccentric octogenarian subject off a little too easy. Full Review

Joe Leydon
July 18, 2008
Joe Leydon, Houston Chronicle

A provocative documentary about a man who dropped out to follow a dream that gradually evolved into something not unlike a nightmare. Full Review

Steven Rea
June 26, 2008
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Not just the story of one man's obsessive quest to find harmony on a plank of wood, Surfwise offers a cautionary tale about parenting, homeschooling (camper-schooling, actually), sibling rivalries and... Full Review

Roger Ebert
June 20, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film's director, Doug Pray, has been able to track down each and every Paskowitz child, and he weaves their memories together with old home movies, still photos and news clippings to create an evo... Full Review

Colin Covert
June 19, 2008
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

A riveting documentary that focuses more on weird family dynamics than big waves. Full Review

Sid Smith
June 19, 2008
Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune

The unorthodox upbringing of the Paskowitz clan is the subject of Surfwise, the story of a family who lived on the road, camped at the beachfront and fashioned its own vanguard version of 1960s-'70s a... Full Review

Peter Hartlaub
June 13, 2008
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

There are too many unanswered questions and a suspicious forced happy ending, but Surfwise is still a fascinatingly voyeuristic and emotionally powerful movie. Full Review

Kenneth Turan
May 23, 2008
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

An honest look at a complicated human situation,... it turns out to be a darker film than might be expected. Full Review

Wesley Morris
May 23, 2008
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

The movie feels exhaustive in its loaded 90-something minutes, showing and telling us much while leaving the meaning of the tangles and twists in this family open to interpretation. For once, the tip ... Full Review

Manohla Dargis
May 9, 2008
Manohla Dargis, New York Times

Surfwise has a bohemian vibe and a cool sheen, but it's an eager-to-please, pleasing commercial enterprise with a reassuring narrative arc. Full Review

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