Synopsis
The radical true story behind three teenage surfers from Venice Beach, California, who took skateboarding to the extreme and changed the world of sports forever. Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva and Jay Adams are the Z-Boys, a bunch of nobodies until they create a new style of skateboarding that becomes a worldwide phenomenon. But when their hobby becomes a business, the success shreds their friendship.
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Cast
- John RobinsonStacy
- Emile HirschJay
- Rebecca De MornayPhilaine
- William MapotherDonnie
- Julio Oscar MechosoMr. Alva
- Victor RasukTony
- Nikki ReedKathy Alva
- Heath LedgerSkip
- Vincent LarescaChino
- Brian ZarateMontoya
Recommendations
- 100
Entertainment Weekly
Lords of Dogtown is a docudrama, rare in its grit and authenticity, that also strives for the mythical youth-rebel excitement of something like "8 Mile." - 75
Rolling Stone
Hardwicke whips up a frenzy of crazy-cool board action, with Alva choreographing the stunts. Even when the slippery-slope-of-success cliches halt the film's momentum, the ready-to-rock actors rev it up again. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
Takes a surprisingly gritty approach that gives the material some gravitas but also robs it of some of its fun. - 60
Village Voice
Hardwicke's pop-Cassavetes melodrama nevertheless rides as smoothly as a big-budget after-school special, capturing youth struggles from an appropriately blown-out teen's-eye perspective. - 60
The A.V. Club
It's no surprise that when it ultimately tries to pluck at the heartstrings, it rings hollow. The film lives and dies by speed. - 60
Dallas Observer
After trying to prove himself a serious actor in deadly dull movies, Ledger lightens up and brightens up a movie that attempts the trick of bringing a new spin to an old story but can't pull off the stunt. - 50
ReelViews
Inept storytelling is one of Lords of Dogtown's great frustrations. - 50
Variety
It's a wipeout once the pic skids into melodrama and an overly schematic sense of how success tore the group apart.
