History of Skating Goes to the Dogs

I know nothing about skateboarding. Ask me a question on just about any other sporting activity (basketball, football, baseball, track, softball, soccer… you get the idea) I’ll probably be able to at least carry on a conversation. Ask me about skateboarding, surfing or any of those insanely popular ‘extreme’ sports (summer and winter) and all you’re going to get out of me is a lot of head scratching and a blank-faced stare.

Really, all I know about skateboarding comes from Stacy Peralta’s wonderful 2003 autobiographical documentary “Dogtown and Z-Boys.” A fascinating look at the birth of a new brand of artistic and athletic expression, Peralta’s film was a stunning foray into a world I did not know a single thing about, some of the archival footage of pioneers Jay Adams, Tony Alva and Peralta himself so breathtaking it was enough to blow the average moviegoer through the back wall of the movie theater.

It was only a matter of time before someone decided to turn the Z-Boys story into a semi-fictional motion picture, I just didn’t expect it to be Peralta. But here he is, back again examining his own life story not even two years removed from the documentary he already made. This time he’s responsible for the script, turning over directing duties to “Thirteen” maverick Catherine Hardwick. Even if the whole enterprise feels more than a bit warmed over, the resulting feature “Lords of Dogtown” is still a surprisingly resilient and electrically alive theatrical experience. Sure it’s a bit haggard around the edges, and goodness knows the whole things feels like a bunch of kinetically exuberant (if completely unconnected) vignettes, but it’s still consistently entertaining, something not many other 2005 Hollywood productions can claim.

Charting the rise of surfing enthusiasts and skateboarding pioneers Adams (Emile Hirsch), Alva (Victor Rasuk) and Peralta (John Robinson) from their days surfing the Venice, California piers and sweeping floors at Skip Engblom’s (Heath Ledger) Zephyr surf shop to becoming three of the most important figures in skateboarding history, “Lords of Dogtown” is as much about the sport’s archaic culture as it is about the young men themselves. With the invention of urethane wheels (“They’re made out of oil!”) in 1975, Engblom gets the wild idea to start a skateboarding team made up of many of the young surfing devotees that frequent his shop like it’s their local clubhouse. These kids hit the skating circuit like a case of napalm, laying waste to conventions and the status quo with every whacked out twist and turn.

In a community known for gangs, violence, prostitution, poverty and worse, the Zephyr skateboarding team is a dream come true for many of these kids, a way to stay out of trouble while expressing their athletically driven artistic talents. Nicknamed Z-Boys, the team’s leaders are unquestionably Adams, Alva and Peralta, each turning the sport up on its ear with every surf-inspired twist, turn and gravity-defying leap into the air. Soon high-profile sponsors are doing all they can to throw money the trio’s way, each of them having to decide if continuing life as a Z-Boy is really in their and their family’s best interests.

Nothing new about that. If anything, “Lords of Dogtown” is an incredibly standard rise and fall tale of a friendship pushed to its limits by unforeseen superstardom. If you’re looking for anything different or unusual, it might be best to take a look someplace else. In fact, the moment those sponsors (led by wildly out of place Johnny Knoxville) start throwing money at the Z-Boys and each goes their separate way the movie becomes less and less interesting. These moments are middling at best, boring at worst, the last fifteen minutes or so of the feature enough to send even the most caffeinated person into a state of semi-permanent narcolepsy. Luckily, Hardwick and company manage to rouse themselves for a surprisingly affecting final, the last ten minutes achieving an emotional potency the rest of the picture lacks.

But what the script lacks in originality the movie makes up for in flare. Hardwick’s camera hits the ground running like a member of the Zephyr skating team and never looks back. This is one of the most awesomely photographed films I’ve seen all year, cinematographer Elliot Davis deserving unending praise for visualizing the visceral thrills so perfectly. And while none of the central performers manage to make much of an impression (save for “The Girl Next Door” star Hirsch, if only because his character here is so far removed from anything I’ve ever seen him do before), this ends up not mattering half as much as it should. This is one case where a fractured, anything goes style of the filmmaking manages to fit both the time and place of the story flawlessly casting a devil-may-care spell upon the audience with apparent ease.

The best moments come during the trio’s renegade sessions, training and practice rinks set inside a cavalcade of California swimming pools kept empty due to an extreme drought happening throughout the state. These sequences sparkle and sing with eccentric energy; Alva, Adams and Peralta perfecting signature moves and techniques in venues taken over by the skaters like they were beaches made to be conquered. The movie sings here, jumping to life with a brazen bravado that appears, at least to a novice, to be the sport’s hallmark character trait.

It seems to me, though, how much you like “Lords of Dogtown” really depends on how much you like Ledger’s unhinged performance. He’s a hoot as the guru-like Engblom, shuffling through his words and emotions just as freestyle as the kid’s skateboarding moves. It’s a loopy, utterly loony portrayal residing just so far over the top enough to rate as one of a kind. Personally, I loved it, Ledger brilliant at controlling both the Z-Boys and the audience’s attentions. That said, I’ll bet cash money just as many people disagree vehemently with that statement as would agree with it, loathing both him and the movie with almost equal zeal.

If you want the real story of Jay, Tony, Stacy, Skip and the rest of the Zephyr team rent “Dogtown and Z-Boys.” It’s a masterwork ranking up with some of the best documentaries I’ve seen this last decade. But if all you want is a glossy, hyperactive and beautifully photographed adversity-laden coming of age story you could do a heck of a lot worse than “Lords of Dogtown.” It may not score a ten on the awesome meter, but a well-earned six still isn’t something to scoff at.

Film Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4)