PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 6/7/05)

It’s fun to guess what the characters in a movie might make of it. Seems the guys in Lords of Dogtown would say, “It’s awesome” or “It sucks.” At least that’s about as distinctive as their self-expression in the film gets. Let’s just say that for an outsider looking in, awesome it’s not.

The subject sure seemed promising. This is a biopic about a small group of friends, teen surfers from the then run-down Venice Beach area in California who, round about 1975, transformed the toy fad of skateboarding into a wildly stylish and acrobatic sport. Known both as the Z-boys and the Lords of Dogtown, young Stacy Peralta (John Robinson), Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk), and Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch) made the big switch when they realized the curving walls of empty L.A. swimming pools are to the skateboard what 12-foot waves are to the surfboard. They became longhair Evel Kneivels, ballsier Beach Boys gracing scenes of TV’s Charlie’s Angels and the pages of People. You can guess the rest-drugs, greed, backstabs, and burnout. In a way, this is an all-boy Boogie Nights with a lot less bang for your buck.

The film has plenty of authenticity and visual stimulation. Peralta wrote the script, Alva choreographed the stunts, and Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) directs the kids. The problem is that none of the Z-boys are all that terribly interesting. Beautiful, yes, but not in the least bit compelling. Heath Ledger plays their coach, the wasted has-been surfer Skip Engblom. He’s pitch-perfect as the ultimate California stereotype-the selfish, stoned jerk hiding behind dudespeak. It’s the most colorful characterization onscreen and almost too garish to enjoy. Critics have celebrated the film’s grungy look and kinetic skate sequences-don’t they recognize that stuff from the average soft drink commercial? This story is called legend today. Maybe the legend beats the film. Lords of Dogtown may pop for the skateboarding crowd. It fizzles for the rest.—Kevin Allison