Surfwise
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: May 9, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Doug Pray's cool documentary about 85-year-old Dr. Dorian Paskowitz, his wife, and their eight sons and one daughter is about surfing insofar as surfing is the family's shared passion. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
How can a freethinking father mandate his ideals without violating them? Pray covers it all, and movingly so. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Pray has a great story here, but it's much more than just "The Brady Bunch's Endless Summer." Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a fascinating patchwork. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Doug Pray’s wonderfully engaging look at love and family and the relentless pursuit of happiness, personal meaning and perfect waves. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
As you watch Doc Paskowitz perform for Mr. Pray's camera, it's hard not to judge him harshly. His narcissism seems boundless, even when he cloaks it in self-deprecation. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Pray maintains a steadfastly objective viewpoint, and it's a testament to his film's success that it can accommodate the audience's inevitably shifting allegiances from one family member to the next. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Chalk up another family for Leo Tolstoy and Philip Larkin file: The Paskowitz family is unhappy in its own unique way and mum and dad f**cked them up -- they didn't mean to, but they did. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
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 of the iceberg is enough. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Filmmaker Pray, who is building an impressive body of documentaries on American subcultures, including the Seattle grunge scene in "Hype," graffiti artists in "Infamy" and truckers in "Big Rig," does an admirable job of allowing his subjects to represent themselves. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Presents an almost fawning portrait of the doctor-turned-surfer. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What are we to make of this existence? Doc sees himself a messiah of surfing, clean living and healthy exercise. We might be more inclined to see him as a narcissistic monster, ruling his big family with an iron fist. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
The film is a restrained, straightforward report about an iconoclastic family whose pain and dysfunction play out against a backdrop of tumbling ocean waves, muscular surfers and golden sunsets. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
While the archival footage is fun, it's ultimately those bittersweet recollections of his equally energetic wife and adult children that give Surfwise its compelling edge. Read full review
70
Washington PostJohn Anderson
Insightful, free-roaming but tautly constructed. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis Harvey
Somewhat forced happy ending aside, the pic holds together well. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Pray unfolds the family's story with patience and skill, making it both a compliment and a complaint to say that he leaves us wanting to know much more. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
What Surfwise reveals is that the dark side of the surfing doctor was that he could be a terrible tyrant, someone whose controlling, self-centered rigidity limited his children in ways large and small as much as it gave them richer lives. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Whether you call this a Rousseau-ian paradise or "Capturing the Friedmans" by the Sea will depend on where you stand on hippie living--up to a point. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The fallout decades later provides the drama in this documentary by Doug Pray (Hype!), who lets his eccentric octogenarian subject off a little too easy. Read full review
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