I'm sure the concept is a difficult one to organize, a skate movie where prominent and exciting boarding is featured along with an interesting storyline. They pulled that off immensely. I know nothing about the wheels lifestyle except for the fact that there is one, (albeit not a huge one, which explains the understandable financial success of this film) but there were a lot of cool, thrilling spots that were coordinated to make this movie fun. This isn't such a simple feat, as I do recall going to the park once in hopes of being blown away in real life based on what I saw on TV. It's a lot different, to say the least. People just skate, as apparently not much glamorous exhibitioning goes on until you are an incredible pro. And that's not a dig at the skaters, as they don't care about the fancy shmancy world of selling out. The message of this film is actually the true life creed of these skaters, live and play for yourself, not for whose watching. In respect of the story and style, well done.
Speaking of style, I also really like the director's desire to create a bit of realism in a Hollywood world of no mistakes. A cop struggles to rip his paper off his clipboard, main characters stuttering a few times trying to get their words out, both of these instances not being part of a overall storyline. It just happens and is ignored by the others as a regular part of life. Not everything is perfect, and the director got that across subtly. Once again, nice job.
Then there's the rest of the film. I mainly saw this to see my favorite actor Luke Perry, and for the first time in my life of watching his many movies and shows, I was disappointed. I loved him in 90210, Windfall, John from Cincinatti, A Gunfighter's Pledge, even Alice Upside-down, but he clearly was either rebelling against his given role or the acting director just didn't know how he was supposed to get it out of him (also a possibility, since some other characters also seemed out of place; the comic-relief heel, Palmer character just seemed awkward, not funny, as his mannerisms were not spot-on). The Tony role was supposed to be threatening and tough at first, a guy you would think just came out of prison or Hell's Angels, and then was supposed to warm up to us, allowing hints of his friendliness to trickle in. The former never occurred. Instead of applying his masterful Gunfighter meaty act to the head of the cafeteria at Point X camp, Perry brought his smirky, bitchy, surf-boy attitude to the table, which worked great as Dylan McKay, Linc Stark and even Ron Young, but really really really didn't seem appropriate here. I never felt threatened by Chief Tony as much as I was supposed to, and it just felt weird hearing the other characters keep referring to him as some kind of hardened no-nonsense boss, with the camera, the music, and the script clearly to supporting that notion, too. For some reason, though, it wasn't the mood Luke chose for his delivery. Upsetting, because the Matt Austin persona showed that he does have it in him.
As for the rest of the characters, who cares, right? We're here to recapture my Dylan feelings. Okay, okay, since we already got this far, Marshall Allman, who I never heard of before, was a great teen heartthrob main character, Hillary Duff's older sister was great. Hot as a tomboy, too, but as soon as she donned the lipsticks, ouch. I don't know if that was intentional and perhaps she looks great all dolled up, as I never saw her in anything else, or not, but it definitely fit the hickish thing they had going for her. The support cast played their roles really well. Gomez Warren seems tip-of-my tongue familiar and is definitely someone who should be seen more of in the years to come, perhaps in a buddy movie. And wawaweewawa, what a breakout role for Michelle Lobardo. I'm sure every actress wants to play the epitome-of-sexuality character at least once in their career, so hats off to her, and please excuse my cheesiness, hello nurse!
All in all, pleasant movie experience, hampered a lot by the acting decision of my main attraction, but well worth the view for me, and if you like skating movies, this one's for you.
