MORNING LIGHT (D: Paul Crowder, 105 min) Open Friday (October 17). Rating: NN
Morning Light is a self-congratulatory documentary about clean-cut white American boys along with a token black kid, an Aussie and a busty blond and preps them to sail the Trans pac, a race across the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles to Hawaii.
[rssbreak]
Flashy cuts, whip-pans and underwater shots amp up the luxurious training sessions and the tedious 11-day race, but the film fails to make a splash, mostly because of the 15 fresh-faced cookie-cutter kids.
They all look like they walked off a Coors Light commercial and into reality television. They even have the ritualistic voting of weaker members off the island, er, boat, because only 11 sailors are allowed to compete in the race. Their monotone voice-overs deliver clichés about how privileged they are (we can see that), how dangerous the waters are (sure) and how life-defining the journey will be (not for us).
