Lords of Dogtown (2005)

To be fair about this: I skimmed though the film and it not my "style". BUT the film looks like a good film for those that like surfing, skateboarding, biographies or for a fan of Heath Ledger (RIP).From what I saw of this film - I think it's a good biography if you are interested in the story of these guys, the Z-Boys. I for one am not interested in surfing or skateboarding but that does not mean this film is bad - that just mean it's not a film for me.I acquired this film in a Heath Ledger film pack and I have nothing against the film, the cast, the Z-Boys or anything else - it's just not my my type film.5/10

I was intrigued by the rawness of this movie. How the young boys lived for surfing, then turned to skate boarding when the new type of wheel was invented. It was touching to see how they struggled at home, how they found meaning in skating and in friend ship and having something together that was on the side of society. Then fame came, and I must say Jay, played by Emile Hirsch, was a bit intimidating. He didn't seem to give a damn, and I didn't like the way he stole Stacy's girlfriend, although I liked him better later in the movie, because he never gave in to fame and he never sold out. Late on in the movie we saw that things just turned out the way they had to, and that was comforting. In the end, the movie left me with a good feeling, even though one of them died from brain cancer. I really liked how Skip kept on making boards, but his shop being taken over by someone who knew how to run a business, and I liked the end scene, where the boys reunited in the empty swimming pool, grudges forgotten, just having a good time. It touched me, and I was left with a feeling that I had witnessed the birth of a new youth culture. We all know how trend setting it became and all that developed from it.

It's the 70s. A group of local surfers form a tribe that runs their section of the surf. Skip (Heath Ledger) is a surf shop owner who starts making skateboards with polyurethane wheels. Three kids Stacy Peralta (John Robinson), Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch), and Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk) become famous pioneering stars. They start surfing empty neighborhood pools. Kathy (Nikki Reed) is Tony's sister.This has the energy. It has the music. It has the rebel sensibility. It's a little disorganized. It's hard to know who's the lead at times. Director Catherine Hardwicke has left it very loose. Heath Ledger is eating up the scenes with his weird voice. Emile Hirsch is sort of the center. There are quite a few unknown actors here. It's a very compelling history to begin with. For more insights, one should watch Stacy Peralta's 'Dogtown and Z-Boys'.

While fast-paced, this film was nothing more than "Jack-Ass" with a Classic Rock soundtrack! LOL! Therein lies the problem with making a film about skateboarding (like golf - I never understood the fascination with it) - 90% of the film has an endless stream of skateboard stunts. While the filmmaker tried to shed some light on their personal lives, the characters still came across as one-dimensional hooligans. The documentary, "Dogtown & Z-boys" was far more interesting. The filmmaker should have built an inner story, as was done in the film, "Gleaming The Cube." All in all: great music, great skateboard stunts, mediocre film.