Cheerfully dim Australian comedy which in its heart of hearts seems like a 60s pop film - something starring Frankie Avalon or Connie Francis. I kept expecting Tom Burlinson to break out into song - ironically, he would later have a career as a Frank Sinatra impersonator. Nicole Kidman did a bit of singing too and it's fun to see her as a pop star.
But I think the filmmakers were uncertain of the movie they were making. There was talk of doing a Risky Business style comedy, so you have Nickers running around nude (a fair bit) - but Risky Business' story was about sex, this isn't. It's a film called Windrider and is about a someone wind surfing - that's the climax. It's really a sports film and needed to be about that.
Add some singing, fine - but the drive needed to be windsurfing. The plot about Burlinson at work is confusing, never seen and pointless. Just make it character.
The romance with Kidman is quite well done (apart from some rapey actions up top), the father son stuff between Burlinson and Charles Tingwell is lovely, the views of Perth are very easy on the eye. It's a cheerful film that did not deserve being torn a new one by critics at the time.
Where it could have been better:
* more focus on windsurfing in the story
* better incorporating the singer into the windsurfing
* have a good female windsurfer for the female audience to have someone to latch on to
* do more with the villain to make him really bad
* have better songs
I also feel Burlinson was simply miscast as an arrogant yuppie - he was most effective as a soulful young man. But I get why he was cast and he does have good chemistry with Kidman.
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