Parents' Guide to

Beautiful Wave

By Tracy Moore, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Pensive coming-of-age surfer tale has a few iffy scenes.

Movie PG-13 2012 96 minutes
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BEAUTIFUL WAVE is a road movie, a surf movie, and a coming-of-age story wrapped in one, whose payoffs are unexpected. There isn't much in the way of action, no earth-shattering plot points, and you can feel the resolution edging closer in a predictable pattern. But it offers something less common: a nice mix of thoughtful, better-developed characters, and a realistic story about teenage soul-searching -- framed through the experience of an introverted teenage girl -- set against the backdrop of beautiful California and Mexico coastline.

Teens with an affection for philosophy, big questions, surfing, and nature and who have a patience for the journey will appreciate this pensive look at lost love and new discoveries. Parents will want to address the joint-smoking, drinking, and teens on an unsupervised road trip, but will appreciate the nuance of those depictions and how they are handled, not to mention the good choices of the teen girl at the center of them.

Movie Details

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