LORDS OF DOGTOWN. (2005) DIRECTED BY CATHERINE HARDWICKE. WRITTEN BY STACY PERALTA. BASED ON TRUE EVENTS.
STARRING HEATH LEDGER, EMILE HIRSCH, JOHN ROBINSON, VICTOR RASUK, MICHAEL ANGARANO, REBECCA DE MORNAY, AMERICA FERRERA, SOFIA VERGARA, EDDIE CAHILL AND JOHNNY KNOXVILLE.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
There's so much long blonde hair on display in this film that it's a bit like watching a one-hundred-and-seven-minute-long Hanson music video. Remember Hanson, the 'Mmm-Bop' guys? Yeah, them. So much hair the whole film's awash with it. The on-the-set shampoo and conditioner bills must have been through the freakin' roof, man.
The moment I saw a no-good punk teen with long blonde hair sneaking out his bedroom window after hours, hair first, to go surfing/skateboarding, I knew there was gonna be a lot of hair in this movie. And montages too, in which the hair is swung boldly, confidently, from side to side by its owner. It's all about the hair, man. Oh, and the skateboarding. I think that has a little bit to do with it too...!
The owners of all these copious amounts of luxuriant 'Seventies hair are California surfing-and-skateboarding dudes who don't want to spend the rest of their lives doing boring mundane jobs. They want to live, man, really freakin' live, and their boards- either surf or skate- are their polished wooden tickets to the non-stop booze-drugs-and-pussy party they want their lives to be.
The three main skateboarders are Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams and Tony Alva. They come from Venice Beach, California- supposedly some kind of ghetto but I thought it looked nice- otherwise known as the titular 'Dogtown.'
Stacy is by far the nicest, most well-behaved and the most normal-seeming. He's also the biggest contender for the Hanson-lookalike prize.
Tony Alva can't wait to let skateboarding success go to his curly head and he doesn't even care that his sister is a skank because, apparently, they're used to having sex with people in front of each other...!
Jay has some serious issues. His home-life is messed-up, man. His mom, Rebecca de Mornay from THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, is always stoned and showing her tits in a tiny bikini-top and hooking up with different guys who always move on in the end. Sad for her, of course, but sad for Jay too, who might have grown to look upon them as father figures, God help him.
I'm not sure but I think the guy who's walking away from his Momma in the film is the lowlife who shot Sissy Spacek's and Tom Wilkinson's beloved son in that brilliant movie from the 'Noughties starring Marisa Tomei, IN THE BEDROOM. See, I can remember everyone's names except the mur-diddly-urderers' one...!
Anyway, with the help and encouragement of Skip Engblom, the surfboard designer who owns the local Zephyr Surf Shop, the three lads become skateboarding whizzkids, joining Skip's team as the Z-Boys and entering contests and mopping the floor with the competition.
Big companies come on the scene and try to lure the lads away from Skip, offering them cars and the kind of money that Skip can't hope to match. Skip is marvellously played by the late Heath Ledger, an actor I never really rated until I watched him in this film.
Looks-wise, he's absolutely handsome, with the shaggy blonde hair, cool togs (it's 1975 to begin with), dark glasses and with a cigarette permanently hanging out of his mouth and a bottle of whiskey always at hand. Heath Ledger turns in a credible and electrifying performance here.
He reminded me so much of Val Kilmer playing Jim Morrison in that excellent biographical movie about the rock group, The Doors. Gorgeous, sexy, talented, everything to live for, but the booze and drugs, man, they gonna mess him up bad, dude.
The scene where he's drunk or stoned or both (and very, very upset about his hopes and dreams turning to shit before his bleary, booze-reddened eyes) on the roof of his shop was very Jim Morrison in the movie THE DOORS.
The scene where he's drunk or stoned or both (and very, very upset about his hopes and dreams turning to shit before his bleary, booze-reddened eyes) on the roof of his shop was very Jim Morrison in the movie THE DOORS.
The character of Skip seems like a really nice guy who just wants to make a few bucks out of his skateboarding team but the team are lured away by the promise of riches and megabucks corporate sponsorship. Will Skip make it without them?
More importantly, how will the lads survive in the world of professional skateboarding? Will their friendships survive? And will success make them... or break them? Can I go on asking these reviewer-type rhetorical questions indefinitely, folks? Or will something come along to stop me? We'll have to see, haha.
Aside from Heath Ledger as Skip, I also loved Michael Angarano as Sid, a friend of the lads' who skates too but just not as well as his buddies do so he acts as Jay's agent. What happens to him is so sad that I'm glad he got him some big, big titty from Ugly Betty first. Before, you know...
Sofia Vergara has a small role playing a sexy, large-bosomed rather trashy Latina woman not unlike her character of Gloria in sitcom MODERN FAMILY. Her fluorescent-green trouser suit, however much it may flatter her gigantic knockers, is a big fashion no-no, darlings.
There's a guy from 'Nineties sitcom FRIENDS in it too, playing a chap called Larry Gordon who's looking to tempt the skateboarders away from Skip. His name in real life is Eddie Cahill and he used to play a guy called Tad or Tag (such an American name!) who was dating Rachel before she got knocked up with Ross's baby-palaentologist.
He was the cute younger guy whose red sweater was involved in the big 'Who's Yo' Daddy?' mix-up. Now do you remember him? 'Course ya do...!
As the story is based on real-life events, many of the protagonists have small cameos in the film. So does skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, a protegé of Stacy's in real life, I believe.
I'm not a skateboarding fan but the routines are magnificent and breath-taking by anyone's standards, especially the stuff they do in the empty backyard pools, all drained because of a severe drought and water restrictions that summer. That was how the Z-Boys started out, you know, skating in these empty pools. And it's so incredibly f***ing dangerous...! Don't try any of it at home, that's all I'll say on the matter.
The film is out now in a rather spiffing Dual Format Edition (DVD and Blu-Ray) courtesy of EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT. It comes complete with extra features and, of course, miles and miles of long, swishy, sunbleached California surfer 'n' skater hair.
Apparently, LORDS OF DOGTOWN is one of the best skateboarding movies ever made. Now, remind me, um, how many of those have been made again...?
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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