Blue Juice (1995)

What makes it different from others?

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A proper little gem of a feelgood movie, it has well wrought characters and great character portrayals. It also has production values way above it's budget. For what it is worth, England ( well, Cornwall really ! ) has never looked better, and, projected with a script of some worth, the whole movie adds up to a true mini classic. Each character's role is well explored and developed, and the level of each actor's ability is truly impressive. All it lacks is a first class music soundtrack, something which one is entitled to take for granted in a movie aimed at the market it does. A little more hot sex would not have gone amiss either !...especially with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the driving seat !

A Beach bummer? Sorry but no - this is a fantastically easy, fun film, and ridiculously true to life for anyone who's spent any time or has any fondness for cornwall. The characters are larger than life, but all charming and not out of place in a film of stereotypes. Lovely - no it isn't going to challenge you, but i would urge you to watch it of you are in love with cornwall, bored on a wet Sunday, or your day's surfing has been called off due to lack of waves. I think critics of this film perhaps are a bit quick in their discrimination because of the 'surfing movie' genre tag that this film carries. I would urge anyone put off by that to take another look, this is not a surf film, but a British surf film, which is of course an entirely different kettle of fish... no glossy beach babes and 'dude' but quirky, hopeless overgrown teenagers living for the next swell.

I absolutely adore Catherine Zeta-Jones, and it was great to see an early performance of hers. However, besides that and the fact that the actor playing JC is quite good-looking, this movie has nothing going for it. None of the scenes feel longer than about two minutes, so it's hard to follow any plot lines. And the plot lines aren't terribly interesting, anyway...when I wasn't confused by the vague and random plot turns, I was bored. The humor is, for the most part, bizarre or just forced. I suppose the movie might be of greater interest to those who care about surfing. Overall, I would only recommend this to die-hard Zeta-Jones (or Ewan McGregor) fans who want to experience her/his whole filmography.

Be warned: Neither Zeta-Jones nor McGregor plays the main part as the poster would have you believe. Their roles are in fact minor.The film stumbles badly between exaggerated comedy and realistic drama, with neither being really engaging. Especially I find it impossible to muster much sympathy for the main protagonist, not to mention his screwball friends and sex obsessed fiancé. The plot drags terribly, and I turned this one off after about 2/3 - unusual for me, as I like to finish what I start. The good acting and beautiful setting takes it from 1 to 2 stars.2/10