Director rises to the challenge of following "Thirteen", an amazing first film

Rating: 10/10 (9 June 2005)

Catherine Hardwicke totally had me with her film 13, and she's done it again with Dogtown. I am not a skate fan and I have not seen the documentary 30 times, but I loved this film for it's humor and characters. The 70's are so perfectly recreated through the music, the clothes, the locations, down to the particular way a barrette sits in a girl's hair- more accurate than even Virgin Suicides. The Boyz, the actors have amazing chemistry and their relationship with the slightly older skate shop owners is very true to life, how they admire them even though they act like brats most of the time. I was definitely crying at the end of the film because I was so moved by the relationships and the complexity of all that had gone on through their lives as they realized their destinies.
There were parts of the film which I felt moved a little slow, but overall I thought the pacing was great. The use of montage was very connected to the subject matter- although not overly stylized, somehow they had a very connected, very 70's feel. The music combined with beautifully shot and put together sequences of skating, living, progressing had a great motion that made me feel like I had been there, even though I was too young to remember anything from that era- a very special deja vu.
Lots of laughs, excellent character development and acting in Jay Adams and Skip, and some very nice supporting roles. A standout to me is the extremely lovable America Fererra, star of Real Women Have Curves, who plays a friend of Tony Alva's sister. Although she a very small yet adorable little part, Hardwicke manages to develop her character in a very subtle and unique way right through the end crawl of the film.