Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Verrrrrrry curious about this one. They’ve been trying to nail it down for a while, and they’re competing with one hell of a good documentary here. I’m encouraged by what I’ve heard so far, so did today’s reviewer like what they saw?
Ahoy, Harry! I got the chance to see a preview screening of The Lords of Dogtown last night. No special guests or giveaways, just the good ole fashioned marketing research hustle. Based on the demographics of the people they were turning away, it seems that they are really trying to see what the teen market is going to think of this piece.
My money is on the fact that it will pull in a respectable chunk of change from the kids. The movie really felt like one of those mid-80s “sports” movies that I grew up with like RAD and Thrashin’, where a bunch of cool kids act out their rebellious fantasies and try to score with the hot chicks. It really made me think the director, who also directed Thirteen, really has a thing for teen sex, or at least trying to depict it accurately (but since she is a woman somehow it seems a lot less threatening to the general public).
The movie was action packed, and all of the skate and surf footage was really authentic. While all the action kept the film moving it seemed a little too close of a retread to Dogtown and Z-Boys. Maybe I’m just too familiar with the documentary, but they tried to replicate a lot of the famous shots, and it made the flick seem a little less than fresh to me in some respects.
Beyond the skate and surf footage, the movie attempts to tell the more inter-personal story of the Zephyr skate team, specifically Jay Adams, Tony Alva, and Stacy Peralta. Most of the interplay is between these three characters and their contrasting backgrounds, hopes, and motivations within life and the sport of skateboarding. The kids that play the three main characters are pretty damn good: not only were they a bit above average for teen actors, but they also looked and skated just like the real guys. The kid that plays Jay even nailed that “crazy-eye” thing Jay has going on. I really felt like this kid was unstable.
There was a fair amount of drama: Jay’s relationship with his burned-out, beach bum mom played by Rebecca de Mornay, the jockeying between Jay and Stacy for the attention of Tony’s sister, and Tony’s obsession with being the center of the universe. You know, typical, after-school special, WB-teen drama kind of deal. The biggest “name” they have in the movie is Heath Ledger, who plays Skip Engblom, the owner of the Zephyr shop and chief degenerate among the crew. He’s portrayed as a kind of loser Peter Pan to the kids’ Lost Boys. The character was enjoyable and there was some pretty humorous stuff from him. I just felt like he was playing “Val-Kilmer-playing-Jim Morrison” with prosthetic teeth to replicate Skip’s trademark slurs. There are a slew of cameos from the original Z-Boys, the band Rise Against doing their best skate rock band impersonation, and a Tony Hawk cameo that got some of the best laughs in the movie.
Despite the fact that I became conscious of the time and pace through the middle act, I thought the movie was a really fun ride. The character development was better than I expected. Lots of fast-paced action and plenty of good laughs made for a solid flick. In the end, Lords of Dogtown made me want to go out and tear up the town with old friends on our skateboards. I think the current crop of dirty punks will really dig it.
-Blackjaw
Sounds good. Real good. Thanks, Blackjaw.
"Moriarty" out.
