Reverend’s Reviews: A G’day for Surfing!

Hottie Australian surfers dominate Newcastle (opening in limited release this Friday), a stunningly photographed, well-acted coming of age tale set among the beaches and waves of the port city that lies north of Sydney. Here, 17-year old Jesse (Lachlan Buchanan) yearns to win the Junior Surf Pro final and get out from under the shadow of his older brother. Similarly, Jesse’s fraternal twin brother, Fergus (the cute Xavier Samuels), is out to prove himself … and perhaps find first love with another guy, Jesse’s friend Andy.

I saw Newcastle during last summer’s Outfest in LA, and was immediately overwhelmed by how gorgeous the movie is. The underwater camera work during the surfing sequences is amazing, truly putting viewers in the midst of the action. Also, first-time feature writer-director Dan Castle (click here for my interview with him) revels in the unabashedly sexy bodies of his cast members. Newcastle should not to be missed by anyone into surfing and/or beautiful young men.

UPDATE: Newcastle is now available on DVDfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.