Ocean Boy

Luke Hemsworth’s range is a revelation. This is exactly the type of film that allows him to showcase those talents.

Luke Hemsworth plays Bosch, the father. He does a superb job of making this man seem real -- so much so I wish he did more roles like this.

I thought I could no longer be surprised by this film’s cheesiness. I was wrong.

For those yearning for that next coming-of-age gem, you might have to go elsewhere because Ocean Boy might have strayed out too far from land.

Some agreeable actors, lovely locales and nifty surfing footage aren’t enough to save this meandering Australian coming-of-age tale.

King is also shown to be more than capable in a story which, like his character, wants to be mature but doesn’t quite get there.

But one shouldn’t mistake Ocean Boy for a profoundly romantic document either: it’s true that Atkins employs a mellow rhythm to keep things existing at the surface... but it’s in accord with the film on the whole.

Eschews traditional crime caper plotting for a more laid-back vibe that does not sacrifice its character's complexities.

What starts off as a movie about a drug dealer on the run with his son in tow quickly loses both its shape and its momentum

Awkward and ungainly — as if made by someone determined to hit his life’s real-or-fictional waypoints, to gloss up his own image while playing up the obstacles he had to overcome, but incapable of managing any of that particularly gracefully.