This documentary appears interesting on the surface, but is completely self-serving and lacking in logic. It is great to hear that the gang opposes racism, but they seem to put themselves on pedestal when it comes to racial issues in Australia just because they have a few members with different ethnic backgrounds. Rascsim is a problem all Australians must deal with and the Bra Boys can't escape its consequence just by associating with some very European looking Cook Islanders and Chileans. I also think the inclusion of the Cronulla Riots should have been explained better. This is clearly a movie for international audiences as it begins by explaining the settlement of Australia. Therefore a couple of sentences should have been added that explained the social reasons behind the 2005 riots. Perhaps because it was partly based the same localism that the Bra Boys so proudly employ. Race is a big thing and I think it should have been left alone if the film makers were not prepared to discuss it properly.

I absolutely loved this documentary, it shows the guys for who they are and where they came from. The passion they have for surfing and the people they care for is unbelievable especially when you listen to the lives they have all had. I'd never heard about the Bra Boys until I was on holiday last year, my sister and I had undertaken surf lessons from a guy a couple of years previously. We asked what happened to him and were told he was promoting a documentary about the community he grew up in, it was then I found out Sunny Abberton taught me to surf!! After being in Sydney last July I decided to take a visit down to Maroubra, I wasn't there long, but just knowing I was in the place that Sunny had learnt to surf made me want to surf again even more, unfortunately where i live thats not always possible.But this documentary was definitely worth the time it took trying to find a place that sold it! (even the amount I had to pay for it)

The Bra BoysDirectors: Sunny Abberton, Macario De Souza Writer: Sunny Abberton Producers: Sunny Abberton, Michael Lawrence Executive producers: Jason Bergh, Sal Masakela, Michael Lythcott, Nicholas Cook, Michael Lawrence, John Mossop Directors of photography: Macario De Souza, Brook Silvester Music: Jamie Holt Narrator: Russell CroweBra boys is a personal documentary on the Australian surfing group called Bra boys who are centered in the Sydney Suburb called Maroubra, also Narrated by Russel Crowe. It is mostly revolved around the Abberton brothers Sunny, Koby, Jai Abberton and Dakota. The four brothers share three different fathers with a mother as a heroin addict and a boyfriend who is a thief. Even though they don't have a strong mother or father figure they have there grandmother Mavis "Ma" Abberton who they all adore. Her home is one block from the beach and isn't just welcome to her grandsons also to there friends.It's a very one eyed view documentary directed by Macario De Souza and one of the Abberton brothers Sunny. You get to see there side of the story not just the medias. Maroubra is a suburb that happens to be a breeding ground for expert pro-surfers, many of them are from public housing and broken families. Bra boy shows an interesting overview of the historical clash between surfers and authorities and also the Abberton brothers dealing with maybe losing two brothers to jail. The bra boys call themselves a tribe while the media call them a "gang". You can understand while the media would recall them gang, by all the trouble they course like example one of the bra boys was having a 21st party while the police where having a Christmas party in the same place but upstairs. When they clashed it turned into a big brawl with 44 policemen getting injured and 8 bra boys getting arrested by the police. The bra boys only show there side of the story to this but this wouldn't be the only drunken brawl they would've have. You see how Jai and Koby both almost end up in jail and what they go through before they find out there sentence, an also relief they feel when they don't have to live a sentence in jail. By there sense of relief they go and surf they biggest waves they have in there life and realise to live life to the fullest and not to take life for granted. By watching this movie even though it is very biased you see how there not just really a "gang". They are also a group of great friends who would do anything for each other. It is even touching to see how much they all adore and love there grandmother ma. It might not be a high budget film but you get to see there side to there story and how they live there lives. The Abberton brothers didn't have much at all while being brought up but they have made there own success and money especially Koby who is now one of the biggest big wave surfers in the world. I recommend people to watch this movie because it can make you think differently of the bra boys and see how there not just a gang there a brotherhood.Liv GYC

Bra Boys (as in residents of the Sydney beach-side suburb of Maroubra rather than intimate female apparel) may well represent further evidence of a newly emerging style of Australian movie making. Something akin to what punk and grunge were to pop music of the 1990's.The first example of this possible new trend to come to my attention was "Kenny", in which the Crocodile Dundee character was resurrected as a dunny man rather than an eco-tourism guide. Engaging, honest, low brow and yet wise and disarming in a laid back, rough diamond sort of way.Whereas Kenny was apparently an example of spontaneous cinematic generation, Bra Boys was given a certain amount of mentoring by Russell Crowe and the people responsible for the Australian Broadcasting Commission's excellent documentary series, Australian Story. The ABC can lay hold to a proud tradition in this regard. They made it possible for a group of university review graduates to lay bare the sanctimonious foolishness of television news and current affairs programmes with their Front Line series a few years ago.The structure of Bra Boys is unpredictable and marvelous to behold. It has obvious antecedents in that genre of surfing films that started with Endless Summer back in the 1960's when surfies wore suits and ties when they travelled on commercial airlines. The Bra Boys were natural candidates for roles in the evolution of that genre into grand spectacles of surfers being towed into lethally dangerous waves the size of waterfalls.But Bra Boys is also a documentary on a prevention of a miscarriage of justice by the police and legal system. Its style is terse and economical with words, but it touches on the background to big news events that the media did not provide. The Bra Boys sudden appearance as peace makers after the internationally documented 2005 Cronulla race riots is given some passing explanation.All this plus a story of a worthy matriarchal figure who provided support and understanding to her hoodlums with hearts of gold. Yes it is probably more hagiography than hard bitten journalism, but it manages to convey the background to big events so much more effectively than the media hacks seem to be capable of doing.I am told the film suffers from audio and visual defects of a technical nature - I was too engrossed to notice.