passable enough for a easy-going afternoon, but less than outstanding entertainment

Rating: 6/10 (6 November 2006)

Maybe I'm a little jaded from Lords of Dogtown following the documentary Dogtown & Z-Boys, and maybe my interest in the film is compounded by the fact that I'm not that heavy into skateboarders- even ones that can do some incredible things like the Z-Boys. But the film here, which has some moments of fine humor and edge and even a little drama, isn't something I would outright recommend unless you already know what you're getting into. For example, if you're the kind of person, male or female (though probably male as, for the most part, it is a male-dominated activity), that shops often at the VANS store, or own many Tony Hawk video games, this is the film event of the year. But for the casual observer of the sport, reactions may vary. The drama, of what is there, doesn't totally pick up mainly until the latter part of the film as the Z-Boys start to gain more notoriety with their shake-up of the skateboarding world.
From what I remember seeing, much of the film is set among guys- some very famous future skaters like Stacy (John Robinson) and Jay (Emile Hirsch, who does make an impression with his longish blonde hair and cool demeanor)- who hang out a lot, and try to one-up each other with their 'moves', mostly in swimming pools they sneak into and other grungy places in 1970s surf-side California. Some of these scenes are really funny; I particularly liked Heath Ledger (somewhat unrecognizable) as the head of a skater-shop named Skip. But a lot of this is also a bit aimless, even as it has a quasi-organizing principle. As a much stronger storytelling/visual stroke was in the documentary, director Catherine Hardwicke just tries to make it as 'docu-drama' as possible, with more attitude than real characterization, and sometimes scenes that come off TOO improvised, if that's possible. Not a bad film in the slightest, and if it's ever a pretty mellow day with some friends who are more into the high-stakes, big-game skater world than I, I'd watch it again. It's just that it doesn't necessarily work either as an affecting tale of a small revolution with the youth in the 70s.