JC is at the end of his Twenties and is living with his girlfriend Chloe in a small coastal town in England. He is a surfer legend and some day, three of his friends show up, including Terry who is about to get married. While he is supposed to have the last good time in his life, Josh (a successful Techno music producer) tries to figure out what type of music he likes most and Dean, who sells drugs on a regular basic, must face the fact that his life is not what he would like it to be. JC has his own problems with Chloe: Will he stay with her and run a surfer coffee shop or travel around the world without her?

Wax up your boards and hang 10 (or whatever) where the big waves come crashing in: off the English coast at Cornwall. Huh? No endless summer? No two girls for every boy? No, but in Blue Juice one can see what most of us probably never even thought about: the British Isles are indeed islands and, not incongruously, there's a considerable surfing culture with a handful of home- grown legends. One of the latter is JC (Sean Pertwee), a skilled surfer so driven by the challenge and so dedicated to his mates that it threatens his meandering romance with the long- suffering Chloe (Catherine Zeta-Jones). The two have planned an extensive, around-the-world trip as a kind of prelude to discussing marriage, but the arrangement is threatened when three of JC's old childhood chums arrive from London. One of them (played by Steven Mackintosh) is a famous record producer who has sold his soul (in every sense) to reap profits from fashionable electronica. Another (Ewan McGregor) is a chronic screw-up resorting to hustling junk to unsuspecting customers. The last (Peter Gunn) is an anxious sort, terrified of marrying his long- time girlfriend. Together, these four guys look like a pack of nowhere men and they know it: while the story largely focuses on JC and Chloe, there's plenty of material for the supporting characters to indulge in mucho self-loathing. The film never quite jumps off the screen and the script may be hampered by too many layers of character eccentricity, but this is still an enjoyable piece with some fine comic performances. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

With the zesty "Blue Juice," writer-director Carl Prechezer and co-writer Peter Salmi have taken the '60s surfer movie and dropped it into a picturesque village on the Cornish coast to create a serious contemporary comedy about the trouble men have in growing up. Tanned, lean and blond, JC (Sean Pertwee) would be just as much at home on the west coast of America as he is on the west coast of England. A local hero because he once dared to surf the Boneyard, where waves crash on lethally rocky reefs, he is so responsive to the eternal call of "Surf's up" that he'd rather ride a wave than make love--much to the frustration of his beautiful girlfriend, Chloe (Catherine Zeta Jones). She's eager to marry him and is beginning to think of buying the fast- food cafe she operates when it soon comes up for auction. JC, who's planning to surf around the world, finds such thoughts hopelessly boring. When JC's surfing buddies Dean (Ewan McGregor) and Josh (Steven Mackintosh) "kidnap" another pal, Terry (Peter Gunn), about to be married, and arrive from London for some fun and games with JC, the visit proves catalytic for all concerned. Happy-go-lucky, reckless Dean has actually reached a desperate stage, prepared to go to extremes to find some kind of anchor in life. A highly successful record producer who sold out his artistic standards long ago, Josh has become a total cynic, especially about women. Rotund, dense Terry, a pub operator, feels he's in love and simply wants to settle down but at the same time is eager to please his hell-raising friends by going along with them. Meanwhile, JC is resisting mightily the simple fact that 30 is staring him in the face, that in fact he is no longer a kid even if he tries to feel like one. Prechezer hits just the right balance between humor and seriousness and is inventive in creating a series of lively, often rowdy and funny incidents that constantly reveal character: JC, Dean and Josh are not as happy as they'd like to believe they are. Prechezer's cast is ingratiating and attractive, and "Blue Juice" is as buoyant as its terrific rock score. "Blue Juice" ties everything up at the end as neatly as "Beach Blanket Bingo," but not before eliciting some genuine emotion and driving home some uncomfortable truths. --KEVIN THOMAS