Surfwise.

Dorian Paskowitz, or Doc, is "the paterfamilias of what is lovingly and at times enviably described as the first family of surfing," notes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, and the subject of Surfwise, "Doug Pray's wonderfully engaging look at love and family and the relentless pursuit of happiness, personal meaning and perfect waves. At least half the battle in the documentary is finding a worthy subject, and few live up to their screen time as easily as Doc, a born pitchman, part carny, part evangelical, who even in his 80s continues to spread the Paskowitz gospel (clean living, clean surfing) with fervor."

"Paskowitz isn't scary just because he's an abusive father, but because he's an absolutist - and, like most absolutists, he's a self-absorbed perfectionist, blind to the differences between himself and anybody else, let alone his own wife and children," writes Ella Taylor in the Voice. "[A]s a Jew, I find another Jew's obsession with physical perfection and cleanliness ('We all had scrupulously clean assholes,' one of the children tells Pray with bitter mirth) profoundly disturbing."

"[T]here is something inspiring about this tribe that hit the open road to discover the world and themselves," writes Bill Gibron in PopMatters. "Sadly, what they found wasn't always pretty or pleasant."

"If the film's contrived melodrama is just family in-fighting as usual, then Paskowitz isn't so far from other 'normal' parents: He tried to give his kids the life he wanted, only to find them throwing it back in his face," writes Paul Schrodt in Slant.

Interviews with Pray: Bruce Bennett (New York Sun) and Alexandra Bullen (Identity Theory).

Posted by dwhudson at May 10, 2008 9:51 AM