You see, here's where the internet goes wrong...

Day in, day out it needs to be fed. It has an insatiable appetite for content and, for the most part, every surf company with a web presence obliges. They constantly upload and entertain to keep their logo foremost in people's minds. And when it comes to surf movies, they dripfeed clips of their latest project to keep the public primed. So before any movie premieres these days, the audience is already warmed to the cause. They know what to expect.

Not so the latest film by Jamie O'Brien.

Before viewing it I hadn't been softened up by teasers, minidocs or promos. So what I got, once the lights dimmed and curtain was drawn, was a big motherfuckin' punch to the gut. Straight up. And I didn't see it coming.

I mean, he really can ride a barrel you know...this J.O.B fella. I knew that. We all knew that. But it was like finding it all out all over again. Some of the sessions in here I'd only seen one or two waves from. But for the most part it was entirely new and unseen, and his performance was...outlandish.

At the cinema I watched it the viewers were eager. Excited. Genuinely excited. Whereas at other public movie screenings I've been to you may hear a half-hearted hoot from someone in the back row...because, you know, that's what you're supposed to do at surf films. Instead there was spontaneous, unselfconcious applause at the end of sections and general exhalations of 'get fucked' and other sundry dumbfoundedness.

Whether it was freefalling out of lips at P-Pass and Pipe or fading into mega pits at massive Mexico it was a full-bore display of fearless, and at times, entirely unconventional, tube riding. Side-stance, switch-stance, loose-limbed and laidback. And airs, oh, he pulls a few of them...

There's a story in there too; Jamie overcoming adversity to become the person he is, including candid interviews with friends and family. Make of those interludes what you will - touching moments of humanity or the chance to take a piss before the next section begins.

And the 'next section' was always better than the last till the obligatory Pipeline crescendo, replete with heli shots, RED camerawork and a big set of brass ones getting thrown over ridiculously late ledges. The whole back row was hooting.

With no art pretension, plenty of gaudy product placement and a one-time storyline Who Is J.O.B was always gonna have to be carried by the surfing performance. Old Jamie gets it there, and then some.

Who Is J.O.B? is distributed by VAS Entertainment and is available for $39.95. Click here to purchase.