On the rare night I'm not watching mob movies and violent series with my husband, I opt for documentaries. I've enjoyed watching various surfing and climbing documentaries for their natural beauty and compelling portraits of human exceptionalism. I prefer the subject to be man against nature/self.
In particular I LOVED the documentary about Bethany Hamilton. Our family visits Kauai yearly and the cinematography and her story are soaring.
I expected something similar with 24/7. First, Kelly must be one of the most beautiful men on the planet and I've been around some cross-fitters but he has some extremely overdeveloped muscles on his upper body that fascinated me and so watching his face, eyes and body are of course beautiful. And the way he connects with the kids, especially the boys, was magical. Everyone wants to touch him and he's very gentle with the attention. I couldn't handle that. As we are the same age, I appreciated him continuing to chase the ring and struggle with retirement and I often thought of the other GOAT Tom Brady and also Russell Wilson who said last week that he wants to play until 48. And I love how these GOATs are always exceptional at other sports. What a beautiful golf game.
I loved how his girlfriend clearly is not attached to anything superficial about him and was very zen and supportive.
However something really really impacted me and still is. I've never wrote a review before and I researched this after I watched the movie. And it was about what wasn't said. There seemed to be such a deep and incredible sadness about Kelly and a desire to stay above a caldron of seemingly unprocessed emotions that lie beneath. Kind of like that concrete slab of reef beneath one of the waves. When he mentioned that his dad was an alcoholic and his childhood I understood - I myself am in recovery. I was looking at the adult child of an alcoholic and the face of trauma I know well.
I didn't need the documentary to go deep, but there was a lack of emotional context for me. He seemed like someone who enjoys spending a lot of time alone but I don't know if that's true or why. I don't think there were any interviews with friends. I just didn't get a sense at all of who he is other than a lover of all things surfing. I suppose he is rightfully very guarded or private. But I do think documentaries owe us more of a window than what was provided.
