Star surfer Koby Abberton checks the waves in a scene from Bra Boys, a documentary about surf riders from the downscale beachside town of Maroubra, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It has a two-day run at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport starting tomorrow.

Berkela Films

A movie with the title Bra Boys conjures up all sorts of images, most of them not pretty.

But Bra Boys, which will have a two-day run at the Jane Pickens Theater in Newport starting tomorrow, is a documentary about surf riders from the downscale beachside town of Maroubra, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and the trouble they find themselves in.

Narrated very matter-of-

factly by Russell Crowe, Bra Boys has some of the grandest surfing you will find on screen. But it’s sandwiched between a life-on-the-edge real-life social drama about the Abberton brothers, who came from a fatherless home and were raised mostly by their beloved grandmother in the midst of the ongoing conflicts between beach gangs and the police. Two of the brothers are in deep trouble with the law. Jai is in jail on a charge of murdering a man who was attempting to rape a woman. Another brother, Koby, is an internationally rated star surfer who has been arrested and charged as an accessory in his brother’s case.

Dakota, the youngest brother, is trying to overcome the notoriety generated by his brothers’ problems. Sunny Abberton, the oldest brother, wrote, directed and produced the film.

So it’s really a family affair, Sunny having undertaken the film to show the world what he and his brothers have

been up against, growing up in public housing in a neighborhood very often in turmoil in a country that seems to have swept

them aside.

It’s only the surfing that has earned them recognition. Koby, handsome and personable, is a charismatic figure who appears throughout the film. But the surfing, especially the daredevil maneuvers when they “ride the pipe” inside the curl of a mountainous wave, provides the film’s thrills and interest. At one point they’re inside a huge, thick wave a mile off the coast in shark-infested waters, providing most of the film’s thrills and suspense.

The legal troubles of Jai and Koby are presented either off screen or in “talking heads” mode and lack a sense of involvement that should have been part of their stories as the film builds up to their court dates.

The first half of the film is a detailed history of Maroubra followed by more recent events, such as the brawls which have soured relations between the surfers — who seem to be blamed for every problem even when they’re innocent — and the local authorities. This will be only marginally interesting to anyone who is unfamiliar with Maroubra. However, it does show Australia, always presented in a pristine light, as a place that has just as many social problems as other countries.

** 1/2Bra Boys

Featuring: Sunny, Koby, Jai and Dakota Abberton.

Rated: R, contains violence, profanity, adult themes.

mjanuson@projo.com