The trouble with such an obvious cinematic exercise though is it��s easy to fall into the trap of cliché and sentimentality, which I realise is a harsh accusation to aim at a such an uplifting true story, but in the hands of Disney and the man behind TV��s ��That��s so Raven��, Sean McNamara, you��re not going to get a gritty, bare-knuckled, and multi-angled exploration of sporting trauma. Her story is told in Soul Surfer, released in the UK today. The subsequent rehabilitation of both her body and mind, and her determination to get back to her competitive surfing ways really is the stuff of movies, a tailor-made story that wraps up triumph over adversity, questions of personal faith, and a battle against a nemesis, all in a gutsy thirteen year old. Rating: 3 On October 31st 2003, rising teen surf star Bethany Hamilton was out on the water with her close friend Alana Blanchard when their Hawaiian idyll, and her life, were shattered by a sudden attack from a tiger shark which saw her left arm severed at the shoulder.
