My Favorite Movie of All Time

My Favorite Movie of all time

by Karenna Umscheid

photograph: Rolling Stone

Most everyone who is involved in the film industry in some way is rattled with fear when asked what their favorite movie is. They meander on and on about how it is impossible to choose – it’s like picking a favorite child! There are so many! But I have a definitive answer – the surfer action classic Point Break. Introduced to me by none other than my dad, I watch Point Break constantly – when I’m bored, when I’m homesick, when the weather’s nice, when the weather’s bad. But, like most movies, the best place to experience Point Break is in a theater, to relish in all of its thrilling, dramatic glory!

Point Break, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, follows a young FBI agent Johnny Utah (Reeves) new to Los Angeles, on a quest to stop bank robberies in the bank robbery capital of the world. His partner, Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), has a theory that a notorious bank robbery group nicknamed the “Ex-Presidents,” because of their US President masks and personas while robbing, are surfers, after collecting some sand and surf wax at the scene of the crime. Reeves gets invested in the local breaks, learning to surf from Tyler (Lori Petty) and meeting a fascinating guy nicknamed Bodhi (Swayze), after the Bodhisattva, naturally. Throughout some ridiculous dialogue and superb fight scenes, Utah begins to discover that the criminals he’s searching for may be closer than he thinks. 

I don’t know if it’s because of my internalized capitalism and frequent need to feel like I’m being productive, but it is so difficult for me to rewatch movies. I am plagued with the notion that I must be watching something new, so I can write a fresh review or mine for content to write an editorial or host a radio episode about, and rewatching feels like I’m doing nothing to get there. However, Point Break is the beautiful, perfect exception to this. 

Point Break is just so spectacular, so over-the-top, so ridiculous and hilarious that it begs to be seen on the big screen — or for me, on any screen, as often as possible. Every time I force one of my friends to watch it, I find myself repeating “you have to watch this part!” over and over. From football scenes that could be known as the blueprint for the iconic beach scene in Top Gun: Maverick, to multiple skydiving scenes that are as exciting as they are hilarious, and perhaps the greatest chase sequence of all time – Point Break simply has something for everyone!

I can’t pinpoint exactly why Point Break is my favorite movie, though it likely has to do with the fact that it is one of my dad’s favorite movies as well, and that we never tire of rewatching it. The final scene is set in Bells Beach, Australia, but it was actually shot at Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach, OR, a few hours drive from my hometown, and I’ve visited it twice already. My dad and I have an extensive movie watchlist, but we always end up rewatching Point Break anyway, relentlessly quoting “Utah, get me two!” until everyone else in my family grows tired and annoyed. My dad and I went skydiving this summer, and I motivated myself to go with this mostly because of how cool the skydiving looks in Point Break – it feels ridiculous how much this film has impacted me. 

It’s difficult to write about Point Break because something about my love for it feels impossible to convey in words. It comes out when I jump up and down before seeing it, overhyping it to an insane level, quoting nearly the entire movie, word-for-word. I hope that this love for Point Break has seeped out here, if only slightly, but if not, let me reiterate – it’s the ultimate ride. 
Point Break screens every President’s Day at the Coolidge Corner Theater.

Until next Wednesday,

Karenna