This is a story of a boy who, neglected by his parents and lacking an anchor, turns to the ocean for solace and into himself for protection. He grows up into a man who is supposedly rooted in hippie mysticism and Sikhism, yet juxtaposed with high profile girlfriends and Hollywood projects. This autobiographical account of his early life has the same duality of being cathartic and being self-indulgent. Remove the neglect and there is little else of substance to the movie. Even the neglect fails to be compelling due to the idyllic setting.
Atkins wrote, directed and produced this movie, his first ever feature film. Whether it was budget constraints or Atkin's single-minded obsession with his own story, it was sorely in need of better writing and creative input. Luke Hemsworth and Rasmus King do a good job of portraying father and son, but their acting and chemistry alone are not enough to carry the movie. The film locations were lackluster and the cinematography does not capture the beauty of the east coast of Australia. In one scene, Rockit runs into Ash 126 km away from Byron Bay and yet the Gold Coast can be seen in the distance. The handling of the film is decidedly amateurish and the heavy reliance on the music of Ry X for the soundtrack did not help.
