Surfer, Dude (2008)

0% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
23% of users liked it
(7,097 ratings)

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 herb-toking long-boarder with a keen sense of balance and a mellow outlook on life. Upon returning to… More 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 herb-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

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: S.R. Bindler
Written By: George Mays, Mark Gustawes, S.R. Bindler, Cory Van Dyke
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 5, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Dec 30, 2008
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Ben Lyons, At the Movies
The film looks more like a collection of home movies as opposed to a professional piece of cinema.
Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies
It felt like we were watching a rough cut.
Dennis Harvey, Variety
[A] hapless, laughless movie.
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.
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.
Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News
Willie and ganja, yes, yes, the cliches abound.
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.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
A celebration of unrealistic lifestyles, which makes it exactly the wrong film for our times. [Blu-ray]
Edward Havens, FilmJerk.com
The number of artistically successful surfing movies can be counted on one hand, and the majority of those are documentaries.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
I wish the finished product was as amusing as the behind-the-scenes pot-fueled merriment I imagine took place during production.
Tim Cogshell, Boxoffice Magazine
The movie is about a surfer dude (sans comma), who is an analog dude trying to fit into a digital world, which is like trying to get a square peg into a Calabi-Yau Manifold, which is to say it probably won't work, and neither does this movie.
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News
Yes, this is a movie made by stoners for stoners.
Scott Von Doviak, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
There's something about the mystical-spiritual aura surrounding surfing that tends to turn most movies on the subject to hippie-dippie mush.
, L.A. Weekly
A shapeless slog with virtually no tale to chase.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
A total wipeout.
Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle
I couldn't think of a less appealing advert for the way of the surf.
Kurt Loder, MTV
...limp and rambling picture, which crawls across the screen for about 30 minutes longer than it has any need to.

Read all 17 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

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.
Alexis N

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.
KJ P

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… More
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 movies 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!
Chris G

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… More
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 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.
Manu G

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… More
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 Reality 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.
Mason W

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.
Sol C

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.… More
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 him 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.
William G

An exceedingly mellow mid-life crisis comedy, brah.
Jim W

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 surfer,… More
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 surfer, 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.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings

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