180 South (Chris Malloy, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Gillian Weiner. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

A somewhat documentary tale about Jeff Johnson as he partakes in an adventure that masks the 1968 journey that his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins went on to discover the beauties of Patagonia. Johnson is faced with many of his own adventures including being shipwrecked, surfing the longest wave he’s ever surfed and prepping himself and his crew to face Cerro Corcovado. After facing his own trials and tribulations he feels like he’s home when he meets up with Yvon and Doug in a little hut. The love they all have for mountains and surf as well as adventure is contagious and compelling.

This film was filled with men who liked to get their hands dirty. Over the shots of Johnson on the boat and him surfing almost never touched waves, Johnson’s voiceover tells his tale in effort to discuss the journey he went through. However, even though some the narration was witty and clever a lot of it was unnecessary and somewhat drab. As Jeff was doing all of these amazing activities his narration sounded a little jaded and uninterested. I understand that a journey and a purpose were meant to come through the film, but I think that would have been achieved without all the narration. I found myself focusing on what he was saying than the spectacular images that they filmed during their outrages adventure.

See how Patagonia backed this film 100% and discussed it all throughout their catalog many people, including myself, viewed this as a mature surf movie. All of sudden, once the movie ended, there was little surfing. I must admit I was let down. I wanted to see island waves that Johnson and the founders of North Face and Patagonia be taken over.

The interviews with the two men were interesting but it’s like the film jumped in the middle of everything rather then giving sufficient back-story to everyone and the tale being told. What I really took from the interviews was the sincere heart they both had for Patagonia and their hopes to restore everything to the people who deserved it.

I would have wanted to see more action and adventure. I wanted to see Johnson and the camera crew struggle with the boat and the climbing. I wanted to see men get dirty and almost fail. I was very excited to be uplifted and feel like I could conquer anything after viewing this film; that didn’t really happen. I was moved by their passion and their cause but that’s all. Some would say that’s enough, and it might be, but I had higher hopes for “180 South.”