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Lords of Dogtown By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Inspired by the true story chronicled in real-life skateboarding legend Stacy Peralta's 2003 documentary, "Dogtown & Z-Boys," "Lords of Dogtown" (Columbia) is a fictionalized drama detailing the genesis of the 1970s' skateboarding counterculture in Southern California. Set in a rundown section of Venice Beach known as Dogtown, the film focuses on Peralta (blandly played by John Robinson) and his two buddies: cocky Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk) and self-destructive Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch). They are low men on the totem pole of a local surfing crew known as the "Z-Boys" led by Fagin-like beach rat Skip Engblom (Heath Ledger, channeling Val Kilmer). Skip instills in them an outlaw disdain for society. (At first he doesn't like Peralta -- the only kid who isn't a slacker and holds down a real job -- because he isn't "pirate" enough.) When not riding waves with the big boys or vandalizing property, the younger members -- equipping their skateboards with newly introduced urethane wheels able to grip concrete -- sharpen their skills "riding" the curved walls of empty swimming pools. Realizing there is money to be made, Skip organizes a team, the Dogtown Riders, who, through a combination of street moxie and surfing aesthetics, revolutionize the sport of skateboarding, which up to that point had been relegated to time-capsule status. Before long, they are taking the skateboarding world by storm, wowing the competition with their gravity-defying maneuvers and being catapulted into rock-starlike celebrities. Their meteoric success triggers a frenzy of corporate marketers and promoters who hope to cash in on the burgeoning craze, testing the bonds of the Z-Boys' friendship. Visually, the film has an intentionally dated 1970s' feel. Rebecca De Mornay does a good job as Jay's burned-out hippie mom (all three boys come from troubled domestic situations of varying degrees). Despite fine performances from Hirsch and Rasuk, and kinetic skateboarding sequences, the vapid film, directed by Catherine Hardwicke (from a script by Peralta) never rises above a conventional study of adolescent rebelliousness, with its more interesting elements -- the characters' broken home lives, the corrosive allure of fame and money -- receiving shallow treatment. If you are interested in this subject, you'd be much better off skateboarding over to the video store and renting Peralta's documentary. The film contains sexual situations involving minors, some violence, underage drinking and drug use, reckless and delinquent behavior, as well as recurring crude language and gestures. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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