NEWCASTLE and environs have rarely looked as inviting on the screen as they do in the feature film Newcastle.
From the opening glimpse of a mist-shrouded Christ Church Cathedral at dawn, to a glimmering Newcastle Ocean Baths drenched in sunlight to the cityscape panorama as seen from out behind the break at Newcastle Beach, Newcastle's backdrops shine.
Even the heavy metal grime of the industrial port and the queue of hulking colliers on the horizon take on a striking beauty when contrasted against the idyllic scenes of turquoise surf breaks, golden sand and bright blue sky.
But then the teenage surfers in the foreground open their mouths.
The whiny strine, abrasive vernacular and profanity of the young characters in Newcastle may be an authentic echo of Newcastle, but their cringeful dialogue goes down like a mouthful of seawater.
Newcastle premieres on Wednesday in Newcastle where it screens exclusively for a week before opening nationally on November 6.
Blond-haired, blue-eyed pin-up spunk Lachlan Buchanan heads the cast as 17-year-old Jesse Hoff, a surfing prodigy who hopes the upcoming junior pro surf contest will be his ticket out of the working-class town he calls a "shit-hole".
The failure years earlier of his older step-brother, the now bitter and jealous Victor (Reshad Strik), gives Jesse's dream of escape added desperation.
When Jesse's three surfie mates talk him into a trip to the Stockton Dunes before the contest, they pack up their boards, two girls and Jesse's embarrassing fraternal twin brother Fergus (Xavier Samuel) for a weekend of booze, waves and sexual discovery.
With his pale skin, dyed hair, black fingernail polish and eyeliner, Fergus doesn't surf but longs to fit in with the boys and nurses a secret crush on Andy (Kirk Jenkins), the gang's best surfer.
The getaway turns tragic when belligerent Victor shows up to put Jesse in his place.
Newcastle's handsome production values and lush surfing footage belie its modest, $3 million budget.
Writer-director Dan Castle had four cameramen capture his cast in action carving through the curls, with hand-held cameras putting us right there on and under the water as the waves churn.
The framing is tight and the surfer point of view adds to the authenticity, though there's only so much artfully filmed and edited wave porn mere landlubbers can take.
Newcastle's hackneyed coming-of-age storyline of adolescent angst, sibling rivalry and family tragedy offers a few touching moments that rise above soap.
Fergus is the most sympathetic character. His struggle with his feelings for Andy, and Andy's surprising response, provide some of the film's most tender and affecting moments.
By comparison, Buchanan's stroppy Jesse and his bleached-blond mates (played by Jenkins, Nathan Milliken and Israel Cannan) tend to blur into each another and the two girls in their gang are mostly adornments, spilling out of their bikinis in unsubtle slow-motion.
Castle devotes more skin time to the rippling torsos, tanned pecs and naked backsides of his male cast, which may please women but could have macho blokes squirming.
Parental note: the film is expected to be classified "M" for its language, nudity and sex scenes, which include Jesse masturbating and later losing his virginity in a clumsy sleeping bag encounter alongside his mate.
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