Irons Brothers Productions; Andy and Bruce Irons, Chris Cote, Blair Marlin and Matt Beauchesne.
Staring Andy Irons and Kelly Slater
Directed and Edited by Matt Beauchesne
Edited by George Manzanilla
Filmed by Ryan Young, Matt Beauchesne, Greg Browning and Daren Crawford
Available through Koastal Media

I plopped down on the couch all geared up for the what all the surf magazines have been hyping as a trip to the Mentawai; KANDUI Resort to be specific. By two of the best surfers of the last two generations and arguably the biggest rivalry in surf history, at least the most hyped. So it’s funny how Kandui really wasn’t mentioned much in the film yet the media mentions it as much as possible. Kandui certainly has the corner on Mentawai recognition with their ability to blitz the PR when a pro surfer visits for a birthday, battery re-charge or surfboard experimentation.
I’m certainly not complaining, I actually know some of the owners and I would have no trouble putting Kandui down as one of the most amazing destinations for surf in the entire world. It’s just plain practical. Even though there is a big chunk of travel time and prices are going to run you close to $5,000 after all your travel is included, you couldn’t find more wave choices or more of a world class surf trip environment. Gee Whiz, look now, I’ve gone and plugged Kandui as well but without the trade or ad dollars.




Anyways, back to the film. I expected it to be about Kelly and Andy surfing the waves around “Playgrounds” and of course a little competitive stir here and there. Fly In The Champagne turns out to be a proper feature documentary about Kelly; and about Andy; and how their rivalry came to be, where it’s been and where it may be going.
I’m a “artsy fartsy” surf film fan so the slash and burn style films usually bore the heck out of me through the extended surf sequences showing same move after same move. The Stars of this film happen to be two of the best surfers to ever live though and never rate boring no matter what they are doing. Kelly, at least at this point in time in my opinion
surpassed himself recently as the “Michael Jordan” of surfing to truly reach beyond that when he took his 9th world title. If he somehow grabs a 10th world title Kelly should be recognized as one of the best competitive athletes the world has ever known.

The film has extremely well done sequences; Beauchesne has stepped into a new realm. Always delivering under the tutelage of Taylor Steele Beauchesne’s first solo film left me wanting more from a premiere effort. In The Champagne we see him taking it up quite a few notches from “Dude Cruise”. We find a film will international professional quality Story, Flow and consistent vision to where the director plans to take the viewer through the story from each act.
Yes, Story is very important if you are making something outside of a music video with hack-a-froth on steroids. Hack-A-Froth certainly has it’s important place in our lives and Dude Cruise is one of those top notch films but to be truly respected as a film director you need to present something like we find here.
It’s not ground breaking or a top five list for me but it is an excellent film and Beauchesne has stepped on the stage as a major film director. I’m not sure who all was deeply involved in the editing process but a strong nod should also be given to Chris Cote for his credit in the written by department. His wit and character are strong in the pages of Trans World Surf magazine and this too could possibly be the vehicle that finally gives his talent a major stage to be recognized from.

Get your red vines, pop corn and favorite beverage together and sit back for an excellent look into Kelly and Andy, how the media, chance timing and judging decisions led to their “rivalry” and where it all may be headed in the next couple years.
www.ironbrothersproductions.com
www.koastalmedia.com