Newcastle, Australia

Playing like a very homoerotic episode of a teeny Australian soap, gay interest movie Newcastle grabs the attention with some beautiful scenery and lots of beautiful male bodies in the first few frames. Having so much eye candy on screen from the go raises the suspicion that plot and characters might be about to take a backseat, and while the storyline is sometimes paper thin, it does keep your interest until the abrupt end.

We’re quickly introduced to the central family in this sun-kissed story, the two main characters being constantly sparring brothers Jesse (Lachlan Buchanan) and Fergus (Xavier Samuel) who live with their mother, step-father and older half-brother, Victor. 17-year-old Jesse is desperate to make it through to to the national surfing competition and out of the shadow of former champ Victor, but his anger problems and lack of self discipline are a major barrier. His gay brother Fergus, a pale skinned Goth, is just desperate to get into the shorts of Jesse’s surfing buddy, Andy.

The fate of the two brothers becomes intertwined when Fergus (who Jesse and his friends openly refer to as ‘Fag-us’) tags along with Jesse, three of his surfer dude buddies and two local girls as they head off to the dunes for a weekend of sex, drinking and surf. Both brothers take the opportunity to close in on their object of affection, the other surfers perplexed when Andy appears to encourage Fergus’ interest in him.

In making the two girls in the group superficial to the point of set dressing, writer/director Dan Castle is either consciously mirroring the boys’ chauvinistic attitude or just doesn’t know how to write female characters – the girls just work on their tan and talk cock size while the boys get all the action on the waves. In the same way, there’s never any comeback or remorse from Jesse or his friends for their homophobic treatment of Fergus.

Newcastle does a good job in capturing the silliness, camaraderie and hormones of late teenage-hood; that feeling that the Summer holidays are going to last forever and you’ll never have to grow up.

These are people (well, boys and men) for whom surfing is, quite literally, life and death – even goth Fergus is forever loitering near his sneering brother’s surfing crew in the hope of getting some lessons. The importance of surfing in Jesse’s life is given some weight by the frequent imagery of cargo ships on the ocean horizon, subtly suggesting that winning on the surf is an escape for Jesse from his inevitable, blue collar future.

It’s a shame the movie didn’t have a bigger budget to properly recreate the excitement and adrenaline of being right there in the waves – the filmmakers try very hard capturing the surf action with some impressive, close-up camera work, but at times it comes across a little soggy and it’s difficult to follow what’s going on.

Beyond the surfing scenes, Newcastle is really two films in one: a straight-up story about Jesse’s dreams of overcoming the obstacles in his path and becoming a winner, which closely follows the sport movie conventions, and Fergus’ first steps to being out and proud. It’s his story which I found the more interesting – okay, so I do have a vested interest – but Fergus is a much more likeable character, Jesse hampered by the fact he’s a sulky, moody jerk a lot of the time.

While the growing lust and affection between Fergus and Andy is handled sweetly, there are times in the movie when it feels like the homoeroticism crosses the line, like a scene towards the end when Fergus strips off in broad daylight and runs into the sea, encouraging Jesse to do the same – I’m sorry, but frolicking naked in the sea with your brother is not something you should do past the age of, like, 4!

It does lead on to a funny and touching scene, however, and it’s a winning mix that Newcastle pulls off very well, adding some tragedy and teen angst along the way.