The Netflix Diaries: Surf's Up

Last year, in predicting the Oscars for abc.com's official contest, I went with the favorite, Pixar's Cars, and got burned by the trendy, overly precious Happy Feet stealing the statue.

Let me tell you- Happy Feet is nothing special- it's just an environmentally minded novelty film with dancing penguins in it, and the multiple personalities of Robin Williams. We actually rented it from Blockbuster (children's fare is the one thing we usually miss in the theater, because we're... not children), and found it seriously overrated.

So when yet another Penguin themed CGI film came out this year, Surf's Up, I found it hard to muster up any motivation to see it- turns out I missed a pretty fun family film. And it's no surprise at all that it usurped The Simpson's Movie for the final, not a chance in hell, Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Surf's Up asks the viewer to pretty quickly accept the idea that penguins like to surf, and many of them live on a tropical looking beach and surf all the time, and once you do, it's a pretty straightforward sports movie. Shia LaBeouf voices a runt penguin that dreams of becoming a champion surfer, and eventually gains the help of Jeff Bridges' disgraced former surfing champion.

And for once, Surf's Up doesn't go too crazy with the "guess the unnecessary celebrity voice" game, despite James Woods in a minor role. Any major draws at least actually fit their part (Jon Heder voices a very stoner-sounding chicken), and it's rounded out by people with actual voice talent (like Brian Posehn and Diedrich Bader).

A well chosen soundtrack moves the film along, and the ultimate message of this sports film is to not get too competitive, which is a good one for some kids to learn.

But the real thing that sets Surf's Up apart is the faux-documentary style in which it was done- there are off-screen interviewer's, and boom mics visible. The pacing of verite scenes inter-cut with talking head interviews makes it like a long episode of The Office, except about surfing penguins. It's a clever gag that they never take too far, and make it fun for those of us older than ten.

It's got precious little hope for an Oscar come February 24th, but it worth seeing all the same.