Lords Of Dogtown review

Turning your hobby into a career is everybody's dream. For three boys growing up in Dogtown, Venice, California in the 1970s, the burgeoning skateboard craze made that dream a possibility. Lords Of Dogtown, "inspired by a true story", recounts an era of innocence and opportunity and how three close friends were bonded and then divided by their shared passion. One of the three boys was Stacy Peralta, who went on to become a filmmaker, directing the 2001 documentary Dogtown And Z-Boys about the group of pioneering young skaters he grew up with. Peralta also wrote the screenplay for Lords Of Dogtown, the Hollywoodized, and ultimately less satisfying, version of the same subject.

Peralta was obviously a gifted skateboarder and is an accomplished documentarian as he confirmed with Riding Giants, but his limitations as a screenwriter are evident. For someone propelled by the adrenalized rush of skateboarding and his other love surfing, Peralta's script is surprisingly sedate. Dogtown endeavours to go beyond the mere craze as it delves into the personal lives of Peralta played by John Robinson and his two close friends and rivals, Tony Alva (Victor Rusuk) and Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch), but it all becomes clichéd in the way it defines their contrasting personalities.

Director Catherine Hardwicke did a masterful job of conveying the harrowing and perilous life of a teenage girl in Thirteen. Her efforts are less effective here, but she is after all dealing with the juvenile antics of a bunch of carefree teenage boys whose biggest worries are trying to pull off a successful 540. There are hints of a darker side with the struggle of a fatherless Jay trying to care for his spaced out mum (Rebecca DeMornay) and the tragedy that befalls the unfortunate Sid (Michael Angarano), but nothing that threatens to upset the warm nostalgic mood.

LOD is successful in capturing the blithe spirit of the times. For the kids of Dogtown, all that matters is sun, surf, skating and sex. While locals endure a water shortage the boys of the Zephyr skateboarding team, run by the mentoring Skip (Heath Ledger), sneak into gardens and ride the empty swimming pools. In comparison to the outlandish tricks performed today, the stunts are relatively tame, but even so the photography does little to help. What should be one of the film's more exhilarating elements comes up short, certainly in comparison to the earlier documentary, putting more emphasis on a story that meanders rather than speeds to its conclusion.

Kevin Murphy