C. Thomas Howell arrives in Southern California to work for his uncle chasing up rent arrears. Instead he ends up entering a professional beach volleyball tournament with one of his debtors, thirtysomethings Peter Horton, who is undoubtedly the star of the show as a washed-up gnarly old beach dude.
However, The script doesn't do anyone any favours. The acting isn't that bad, but they're not gven a great deal to work with. The characters are one-dimensional, the delineation between good guys and bad guys is almost cartoonishly clear, and the dialogue is full of bad clichés.
The unashamed theft from other movies, including a running along the beach training scene a la Rocky III and a lift of the song "playing with the boys" from Top Gun, probably makes the picture more bareable.
All bright colours and big smiles and with a near-continuous pop soundtrack, this sun, sand and swimwear movie makes Cocktail look like Citizen Kane. California has never looked so predictably radical.