Lords of Dogtown: Sufficient

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2011)

The kind of person not even remotely enticed by the idea of a film about skateboarding, Lords of Dogtown was something I lazily opted to watch on television because of a name: Emile Hirsch in this case.
Exploring the shift in early-70s California from surfboards to skateboards, Lords of Dogtown follows primarily three young characters associated with the sport's beginnings. Recruited by local surf/skate shop owner Skip to his new team, the trio—along with others—begin to ascend the ranks and eventually find themselves besieged by offers from other, more financially appealing teams.
The opening credit sequence of Lords of Dogtown bears that most unfortunate of addendums: based on a true story. Such real life ensemble dramas are as rocky a territory as one can encounter in script terms, often only worthy of attention by those already interested in the subject matter. Such was my feeling as I began to watch this, the film focused, as you may well argue it should be, upon the skateboarding itself. Flittering glimpses of human drama are seen at various points: the splitting up of Jay's mother and her boyfriend; the relationship between Stacy and his girlfriend. These are mostly superfluous and perfunctory; surface skimming of something from which you feel the film could, and should, make more. This aside, the humour is plentiful, laughter making its presence felt regularly and appropriately. Be it the casual dismissiveness of Skip to his inner-ear-problem-besotted volunteer employee Sid, the scenes of manic teenage activity, or the athletic alacrity with which the characters throw themselves around the screen, the entertainment value is consistent for all. Problematic are the less friendly aspects of the team's wildness, such insignificant instances as their theft of an old man's hat and shouting vulgarities at nearby septuagenarians a deterrent factor in getting to like the characters. Nevertheless, they are at least partially endearing, their ascension an enjoyable spectacle. The film bears nothing of technical noteworthiness, save for some interesting shots from between the skateboard wheels as its respective riders take it for a test drive. An interesting concept, and one which perhaps might have benefited from some additional exploration. Hirsch's performance, it being my reason for sitting before the film, is amiable and solid, though undeniably outweighed by that of Ledger. An odd character is created between Ledger's drunken rants, meddlesome mischief, and disorganised handling of something which explodes beyond what he ever thought it might. Oddly handled to say the least, the performance elevates a background character to the foreground, bringing us to wonder what ever did become of Skip when the ending gives us—in rather frustrating text-over-still-image format we've seen so oft before—the future of these characters.
Despite portraying a subject in which I couldn't be less interested, Lords of Dogtown manages to keep things entertaining for most of its running time. Though it touches lightly upon a number of subjects without ever exploring any of them particularly deeply, the central and simple friendship story at its heart is sufficient to warrant its watching, being as it is more the kind of thing you watch when it happens to come on than one you actively seek out.