My first impression of the movie was the dialog, and it seemed very unnatural as in normal people do not speak that way it seemed as if every conversation was contrived. Her son was overreacting and livid in an unnatural way, Helen Hunts Character was irritating which I think she wanted to be overbearing well she succeeded in that. Luke Wilson was a hollow character that did not serve much purpose but maybe he was not supposed to. Is this the way overeducated people speak? David Zayas from Dexter was in it as her driver and still not sure what his role was there for besides making painful quizzical faces. The whole movie seemed jumpy . disjointed. with conversations that seems out of place and over written. The only real part of the movie was the surf scenes which were quite accurate for learning surfers. Not sure what the aim of the movie was but with me as a viewer it missed the target.

I'm still not sure how much I enjoyed this movie. The constant arguing of the mom and son got old. The way he kept referring to her by her first name began to annoy me. Each and every phone conversation was arguments!! She should have got into his face and insisted on respect. Instead, she just accepted it, tacked it up to her failure and more pain. I recently scattered my folks ashes off the shores of Hawaii. That was tough (emotionally speaking) scene to watch. Brought back memories. I have an 18 year old son, myself, who recently left the nest. Her emotions of her son moving away rang home. Although I have done a better job than her so far and have let him go. At the end, when she tells him she is staying in LA, and the he tells her he's going back to New York, was she thinking "really?? I was staying here to be in the same city as you!!" It was an OK movie. I actually enjoyed Luke Wilson the most in this movie. The Limo driver was enjoyable too. Oh, and I think Helen Hunt is not aging very well at all!!'

Helen Hunt plays an over protective mom who can't let go. She works for NY literary firm, and her son Angelo (Brenton Thwaites) desires to be a writer, making their relationship strained. Angelo opts to visit his dad (Robert Knepper) in California for the summer, the type of controlling dad, who tells his son, "whatever makes you happy." After spending 2 minutes on a California beach, Angelo decides he wants to stay. Mom comes out to LA, a place that she loathes like the NY snob that she portrays, and takes surfing lessons to be closer to her son...the one running away from her. The film is all about the mom-son relationship and a bad love story. The characters lacked depth. I didn't feel for none of the major characters. It was also a mediocre attempt at comedy. Helen Hunt acts better than she writes or direct. Guide: F-bomb. Sex. No nudity.

It is a 2nd directional feature for Helen Hunt. She also starred in a prominent role which is about a mother-son relationship. I don't understand why it was rated very low, but I like this rare movie, which portrayed parent-children bond in an emotional way. Such kind of a beautiful film the last time I saw was the 'The Guilt Trip', I guess. Only the women filmmakers can make films like this. Maybe this movie hit my weak point, I'm always sympathetic to the old people's struggle. Anyway, I liked the Helen Hunt's role and she was not struggling, but wanted to connect with her son who's grown up and trying to stretch his wings to fly away from her. This is very usual in the real world, an affectionate father towards his daughter and the same to a mother towards her son. I find this kind of themes are very cute and touches me. There's nothing bad about the direction, but the screen writing. Helen Hunt is not a great writer, in some parts the film was very dry. Feelingless emotions, but overall keeping the prime target as a mother who's pursuing her son for some reason. There were a few scenes that added the fun flavour to the movie. I wanted to give more points it, but I can't. Besides, I can recommend it to the people who're interested to have a movie about the family issues. Not like couples having a quarrel, but between parents and their kids, like maybe similar to the one I mentioned in the first paragraph. 7/10

OK so I am a huge Helen Hunt fan. Can't think of a movie she's been in that I haven't see. I wish I didn't see this one. Movie was just bad. Maybe this is reality in Hollywood but for the rest of the world not so much. Plot was painfully slow. Characters were not well formed. Just seemed to go nowhere with a week message. The idea had hope, I think it could have been good if maybe it was a comedy. Something to help us pass the time. Maybe some jokes.but it just wasn't good. Unfortunately I found out Helen also wrote and directed this one. Please Ms Hunt. Stick to acting. I love your work. This was not good. Sorry still a big fan.......

I was a Helen Hunt fan until this movie. Her character was very disturbing and in my opinion she was a stalker. Very creepy! The fighting, the spying and the constant texts back and forth were extremely annoying. Helen leave your son alone and let him live his life! What amazed me was that the driver and her surf instructor seemed to think that what she was doing was OK. What really did it for me was when she walked into her son's bedroom when he was with his girlfriend...that was over the top. Then she cussed at her son, the step mother and the father for no reason when she barged into their home! The only character that had any real substance was the driver. I can't believe that I made it to the end...I kept waiting for something good to happen. If you were a Helen Hunt fan, don't watch this movie...you will be sorely disappointed!

Ride When a woman says that she's riding the crimson wave it doesn't mean she's a sunrise surfer. Mind your, the middle-aged mom in this dramedy could be the exception. When her son Angelo (Brenton Thwaites) drops out of college to pursue his writing and surf aspirations on the West Coast, Jackie (Helen Hunt) takes a hiatus from her editing job to keep an eye on him. In California she starts taking surf lessons from Ian (Luke Wilson) and discovers a new side to herself apart from her son's post-secondary life choices. Free to explore, Angelo also finds his rebellious view on education may not be the best option for his art. From its superficial self-discovery script to its stock surfing shots, this vanity project from writer/director Helen Hunt does little to showcase any noteworthy talents beyond her established acting ability. Nevertheless, surfer parents sound way less involved than helicopter parents. Red Light vidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Review: I wasn't a massive fan of this film because I found it a bit far fetched and over the top in parts. Its about a busy New York woman, Jackie, who finds it hard to let her son go when it's  time for him to go to college and before he leaves, he spends some time with his dad in Los Angeles. She then decides to visit his college to give him a few bits and pieces and she is told that he dropped out, without telling her a thing. At this point she should have just called him to discuss his decision not to go to college but she jumps on a plane and hires a limo to spy on him, so she can see what he is up to. Her cover is blown when the limo driver crashes into his car and he's not too happy about her being in Los Angeles. Her son has a deep passion for surfing so she takes up the sport to spy on him. She realises that it's not as easy as it seems, so she hires an instructor to teach her how to surf. Within a few minutes, she falls for the strapping instructor, played by Luke Wilson and she carries on pursuing her son to try and convince him to go back to college. Its a weird comedy which has a couple of funny moments but there isn't that much going on. Her son has no respect for his mum and he just talks to her like crap half of the time. The acting isn't bad but there isn't much depth to the characters, especially Jackie who obviously has mother and son issues. The father also seemed to be missing through most of the movie and he didn't have that much to say when she showed up at his house in the middle of the night, cursing in front of his little daughter. Anyway, it's a watchable feel good movie about self discovery and relationships but it's not one that I will be watching again soon. Average! Round-Up: This is the second movie directed by Helen Hunt who also directed, wrote and starred in Then She Found Me with Better Midler and Colin Firth. Personally, I think that the script could have done with a rewrite because of the lack of information about the individual characters. Anyway, at 52 years old, she has starred in over 80 movies which are mostly drama and romantic comedies. She won an Oscar in 1998 for her brilliant role in As Good As It Gets, alongside Jack Nicholson who also won an Oscar for best actor and she hit top form in 2000 with Pay It Forward, Cast Away and What Women Wants but she has gone under the radar since then. After having a 3 year break after her directorial debut, she has struggled to hit the same form that she had in 2000 but she still pops up in a few movies now and again like Bobby and the Sessions were she was nominated for another Oscar for best supporting role. This film also starred Australian born Brenton Thwaites, 26, who recently starred in the Giver, Maleficent, Son of a Gun and the Signal. I did find his character annoying in this movie but thats down to writing more than his acting ability. He has a role in the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and in God's of Egypt with Gérard Butler so he has a lot to look forward to. Anyway, Helen Hunts spoilt brat, attitude throughout this movie gets a bit much after a while and her sons lack of respect for her also let's the film down. I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/dramas about a woman who follows her son to Los Angeles to find out why he has dropped out of college. 3/10

I'm conflicted. Normally a movie of this type will be interesting and fun for most of the first 80 minutes and then end in a clunky manipulative way. It is that rare movie that is stubbornly insufferable for more than 80 minutes and then ends in a weirdly satisfying if predictable way. It can be unbearable at times to watch Helen Hunt try and act her way through her impassively clay-like new face, as if she were a Star Trek Changeling character. It can be maddening at times at how sympathetic and misunderstood she thinks her character is. And it can be frustrating at how mechanical the scene construction and the in your face symbolism feels. But I have to admit that there is a charming tone that coalesces nicely in the last 15 minutes. You know what's coming, and the unflinchingly cheesy dialogue up to this point is often unintentionally amusing, but when it happens at the end it feels real, just like the ending to the story she's been discussing with her son. There's just enough of a spark there to make you understand why she wanted to make this movie.

I stumbled on this film when Helen made a guest appearance at Conan O'Brien show in May'15 promoting the film. If I recall correctly she said that she produced it, did the casting etc and her most favorable part was that she could pick male actors (like it is usually men cast women and this time it is all different) and essentially define not only the storyline but all the details. What she hadn't mentioned was I guess that the core-story was quite personal for her (although I wouldn't know for sure if this was the love or the children or something else). Although the story seems to be around a classic mother-son relationship challenges ( and some reviewers indeed look at the film like it is such a cliché - This is where I would apparently disagree with them) what I noticed is a different sense layer that is more focused on a philosophical "enjoying life" (and I put this into the subject line) question that I assume many people eventually run into. I wouldn't reveal the details, but I believe that one can find something in this movie that looks quite refreshing in terms of breaking work-sleep- work chain and triggers some further thinking on how it should be "right".