Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (writer and director of the film Thirteen), this film doesn’t know where it’s going half the time.  The shots are often beautiful, filmed in a grainy style to show what apparently used to be referred to as ‘Dogtown,’ now commonly known as Venice Beach.  We follow the true story of a bunch of skaters in the 70s that make up the ‘Z-Team,’ and revolutionize the sport, becoming west coast celebrities.  Ultimately, the film ends up being about how fame ruined the lives and friendships they had before all the glory.  But Hardwicke sure takes her sweet time getting to this point.

The first half of the film (in it’s entirety, the film runs about 90 minutes) is mostly just the group of boys skating around Venice, smoking, joking, toking–not taking authority too seriously (the almighty MPAA has thankfully warned us that it received it’s PG-13 rating in part for ‘reckless behavior -  involving teens’).  Not being a skater myself, or knowing much about the sport (besides enough to recognize Tony Hawk in his little cameo), I was vastly bored by the seemingly unending ollies, and….well, that’s the only trick name I know. But during the short intervals where the plot was the focus, I was pulled in by the terrific cast and the intriguing true-life drama.  Heath Ledger is to Lords of Dogtown what Johnny Depp is to Pirates of the Caribbean.  His acting was phenomenal and he was barely even recognizable (see if you can spot him in the trailer).  I would put this performance above Brokeback Mountain.  The Cast also starred Emile Hersh (Into the Wild), John Robinson (Thirteen, Transformers) and a slew of other young, talented actors.

If you’re into skating, I’m guessing you’ll like this film much more than I did.  But even with it’s shortfalls, I had a good time once Hardwicke gained control and let the story tell itself.

2 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 55% – Cream of the Crop: 59%

Rated PG-13 for drug and alcohol content, sexuality, violence, language and reckless behavior – all involving teens.

I enjoyed the film, a lot.  I’ll probably go see it again.  Heath Ledger was haunting and brilliant in his performance, the action was endlessly entertaining (the more elaborate scenes were filmed in IMAX).  But I left the theater feeling slightly underwhelmed.  This isn’t Christopher Nolan’s fault, who deserves such high praise for reminding us that high-budgeted, big studio movies can be more than just mindless drivel.  It wasn’t the actors’ fault (the cast was stellar; let’s thanks the folks with Scientology who mind-controlled Tom Cruise into forbidding Katie Holmes from reprising her roll as Rachel, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a better actor than Holmes will ever be.).   But I daresay it was the fault of the studio who previewed this film so much to critics, so far in advance, that I’ve been expecting a damn near perfect film since mid-June.

The studio really couldn’t care about this side effects of building such rapport.  They already have their great reviews, they already have (according to early estimations) the highest grossing opening weekend of all time.  So no one was really hurt I suppose.

I’ve had a few such experiences, when a movie is built up so much that I feel a little let down (I know someone who is definitely not me who was underwhelmed upon his first viewing of ‘The Godfather’ due to this very reason).

Of course, all this media fanfare about the movie doesn’t make the movie itself any less well made.  The two and a half hours literally flies by as you’re mesmerized by Aaron Eckhart as Two Face, Michael Caine as Alfred, the twisted love triangle between Harvey Dent, Bruce and Rachel, and all the other goodies that Nolan used to weave this masterful web.  My one  other qualm with TDK is this: Where’s Christian Bale?  It’s granted that this was Heath Ledger’s moment to shine (even more so with this being his last performance) but Bale is wicked talented, and definitely needed more screen time.  He’s the reason ‘Batman Begins’ was so revitalizing for the franchise, he should have been given more opportunity to show his acting chops.

3.5 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 94% – Cream of the Crop: 90%