Do you know who Elmore Leonard is? It almost doesn’t matter, but he’s a writer whose work has been turned into successful movies such as “Get Shorty”, a bit of hit starring John Travolta. I say this because the dialogue in this movie is well written – sharp, witty and mostly fast paced. Too bad nothing else in this film is remotely at that level.

At least I’ll say this – Owen Wilson finally gets to play the part I think he fits best, a drifting surfer dude. Wilson plays a guy named Jack, a low level criminal who ends up in Hawaii working on a hotel construction job. There’s a protest, he gets fired and ends up hooking up with the girlfriend of the builder and the local judge. Now I’m not sure if he ever does surf, but there are plenty of scenes of guys surfing. Hey, this is Hawaii! Plus, you better get used to it, because not a lot happens in this whole movie.

I really cut to the chase there, because this movie never does. (more…)