For his directorial feature debut, Australian actor Simon Baker (The Mentalist) ably adapts Tim Winston’s best-selling novel, in which a pair of callow young men (Samson Coulter & Ben Spence) are befriended and mentored by a mysterious, seasoned pro surfer (Baker) and learn way more than how to ride the waves. Also a strong performance by Elizabeth Debicki. It’s an observant, beautifully filmed (the surf scenes by Rick Rifici) movie that avoids the usual clichés and offers with authenticity and resonance a thoughtful new perspective to both the surfing and coming-of-age genres. (115 min)