As drama, surfing tale "Newcastle" wipes out

A glum and slack family drama, "Newcastle" is punctuated by bright bursts of dreamy surfing images, but not enough to make the film rewarding.

Set in Australia, the story concerns 17-year-old Jesse (Lachlan Buchanan), the middle of three blue-collar brothers whose lives revolve around surfing.

Jesse's older brother, Victor (Reshad Strik), had his day in the sun as a local surfing hero but couldn't go the distance as a champion. Now a self-pitying jerk, Victor can't stand seeing Jesse get his own opportunity.

Whatever Jesse's problem — guilt, pressure, hormones — it's turned him into a humorless schmuck who's often cruel to his younger brother, Fergus (Xavier Samuel). Trying to blow off steam, Jesse grudgingly takes Fergus along with some pals for a weekend at the beach. Stuff happens: high jinks, sex and the inevitable tragedy that breaks everybody's emotional logjam.

None of it is compelling, and the overall story is loose and patchy, like a poor, straight-to-DVD potboiler.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com