This epic sports doco captures the remarkable and unconventional life of legendary big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton. Sweeping cinematography puts us in the lineup with a master playing the sea.
Take an exhilarating ride with big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, a unique sports icon who has refused to compete professionally.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2017
Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton 2017
The life and exploits of surf legend Laird Hamilton are rewardingly covered in this exemplary sports documentary, weaving footage familiar and new around a frank interview with the unfailingly forthright man himself.
“The pioneering big-wave surfer gets the full legacy treatment in Rory Kennedy’s rip-roaring account of a life spent conquering untameable walls of water.
Taking a breather from the social-issues docs that have been her main sphere, prolific nonfiction filmmaker Rory Kennedy steers the audience on an exhilarating ride in Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton. An extreme-sports film that’s also a laser-focused biographical study of a crazy man lacking a functioning fear mechanism, this portrait of the charismatic big-wave surfer catalogues almost four decades of Hamilton’s achievements while offering an admiring assessment of his unstoppable drive. Tapping into a wealth of breathtaking action footage, the film naturally is at its most exciting when it puts us right there in the surging waters.” — David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter