su·per·cil·i·ous

Website: braboys.com.au
Director: Sunny Abberton
Lead: Koby Abberton
Co-Star: Sunny Abberton
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 85mins
Rating: M
Stars: 2

I guess when you are making a documentary about the rough and tumble of growing up a Housing Commission kid on the beaches of southern Sydney, then you are allowed to make your doco as rough and ready as the subject material - but I guess I found Bra Boys to be too much like a badly shot home video and not really up to the quality that I would have expected from something being shown in our major cineplexes.

The Bra Boys is the story of the 'tribe' (aka gang) of the same name. The boys who make up the Bra's all hail from the same drug and poverty ridden housing estates around Maroubra beach. This group has amazing resilience and have grown up to be each others family - from modest beginnings of just a group of 5 or 6 boys to over a hundred members these days. Literally each and every one is 'my brother's keeper'. The Bra Boys have also produced some of the world's best big wave board riders - with a motto of charging in when faced with adversity. 

Violence has surrounded this group - and the decision to use violent Russell Crowe to narrate the movie is in character. Admist all of there moralising about how they support each other - the Abberton family at the centre of this story is torn apart by allegations of murder - and the the subsequent aquittal for two of the four brothers is an interesting tale and I learnt a lot that I hadn't taken notice of when it was covered in the local media.  

Ultimately this is a surf flick with a hard edge parading as a social documentary. It is genuine and heartfelt and you learn a lot about the Abberton's through the film (written and directed by one Abberton, focussing heavily on two of the others). We learn a lot about tribalism - but I just wish it had of had a slightly bigger budget to allow some better camerawork and editing. All in all this is a sobering story - but I wish it was more than just that.