The Drive Thru series is about men who get paid to go on vacation. They make home movies and then when you buy the movies, they get paid again and get to go on vacation again. So, I don’t know, if you have a job, or a child, or any sort of responsibility in your life, watching the Drive Thru New Zealand will probably just make you cry.
But if you manage not to cry, you’ll laugh hard, suit up and paddle out kicking. That’s the thing about this Drive Thru – the whole crew says it was the best ever, but you probably surfed better waves today than they got the whole trip (claim not really valid outside Hawaii). Despite gale force winds, icy water and over two thousand miles of driving, the boys have a total blast – and as the viewer, you can really feel it. I want that. Which is why, even though I just saw the premiere for free at the legendary La Paloma Theatre with the legendary-er Occy in house, I’m a little cranky and I don’t want to write a review. So I’ll do what it is we do when quality takes a backseat – I’ll make you a list.
While the boys at 14Day Productions deliver another solid soundtrack for the film, Donovan and Occy take this category hands-down with their instant classic, “The Drive Thru Song.” The Raging Bull channels Dylan when he belts out this homegrown verse: “Baby sheep / Mama cows / Co-old surf / And warm towels.” Brilliant.
Ozzie Wright, Benji, Donovan, Occy, Pat O, Alex Gray – the whole crew is cartoon characters. These trips assemble surfing’s biggest personalities, then pack ‘em into a cramped RV like the Real World on four tires – hijinks guaranteed. But who stands out from the crowd? Alex Gray gets the nod here. In his first ever Drive Thru, the youngest member of the group is also the loudest and keenest, in spite of (spoiler alert) getting laid up by a fin gash that pierces a quarter inch of neoprene en route to Alex’s foot.
Best Achievement in Costume Design:
Gray almost wins this one as well, sporting a classic, all-white birthday suit for roughly 105% of the film. Occhilupo has a strong showing in his 6/5/4 Solution, with which he has some epic battles on screen (he apologized to the crowd for his surfing as the lights dimmed in the theatre, saying, “It was a lot of rubber…”). But the award for costume goes, of course, to Donovan, who – even with a multi-million dollar surfwear sponsor – manages to look like Goodwill vomits on him every morning.
In a heated contest between the sheep and New Zealand itself, the country takes top honors. What’s lacking in great surf is more than made up for by the punch-yourself-in-the-mouth beauty, as the guys book it from North to South across unbelievable expanses of wide open land. And…and sheep.
The crowd favorite tonight was Occy by about a mile. He could have pulled the fire alarm and kicked a puppy and still gotten a standing ovation. I’d guess the rest of the Drive Thru crew would vote for him as well – everyone seems to love the guy (me too; he was totally about to let me give him a back rub before they asked me to leave). But I’ve got to hand the upset victory to Alex – from torn up beachbreak to an enormous, frigid bombie and everything in between, Alex rips and is clearly Prozac for the rest of the travelers. You can’t help but have fun watching him having fun, which is what these movies are all about. There’s little doubt that in five minutes, when the next Drive Thru comes out, Gray will be front and center cackling and taking his pants off. Since you can’t wait that long, pick up a copy of this flick as soon as possible and get your smile on.
Check out the Drive-Thru New Zealand at a surf shop near you, or purchase it online at www.PoorSpecimen.com