Just as a quick preamble, those reading this review should know that I'm not some kind of movie guru like Adam Mast. On the other hand, I have been skating for eight years and am the biggest skate nerd I know. I know. I know everything from the chemical compound of riser pads to the first skate shoe to feature an air pocket, so let's do this. The Lords of Dogtown is getting mixed, if mostly favorable reviews, but since I'm dead in the center of the movie's target audience my opinion may come from a different slant than Ebert and Roeper and their bunch, so just bare with me.

First of all, I remember reading about the idea for this movie years ago in Thrasher right after Dogtown and Z-boys launched the legendary band of Hessians into mild super-star status. I always suspected that Lords would be whack and cheesy since being "X-TREME" and drinking Mountain Dew were the only things that Hollywood really seemed to gleen from the cinematic skateboarding experience. It also frightened me that, in the beginning Fred Durst was involved with the project. Happily, that clown got canned, he would have figured out a way to bung it up.

So finally after years of Hollywood horseshit, Lords Of Dogtown is here. As I mentioned before I'm no authority on film, so I don't know all the actors names. The same woman who directed Thirteen directed this film. It's obvious that she wanted to really capture the crazy antics and bad ass attitudes of the kids, but at times she went too far over the top with all this - so much so that it was a little embarassing. Too much Extreme makes jerks of dull boys.

True there was the occasional example of over-acting, but what really undermined the authenticity of the film was the bogus (inaccurately protrayed) skating sequences that really made me want to hide my face in my arms. First off, in the opening scene when Jay Adams rolls in off a roof, barefoot, in a wet suit, holding a surfboard and landing in harsh asphalt is totally dumb. I've seen some gnarly shit go down in my day, but that was retarded. Another whopper of a blunder was Tony Alva's contest winning acid drop off a balcony. I've never heard of him doing this before, but the durability of skateboard trucks in the 70s could barely handle a drop off a picnic table, leave alone this ridiculous lie of a stunt. There were more out of place tricks (wallies, wall-rides, and Hippie jumps) in the movie that make it exciting to watch for the average person, but in the eyes of a knowledgeable skateboarder they just caused eyes to roll.

I have to hand it to the casting people though for actually finding real pro and amateur skaters to do the stunt work. One of the most obvious skaters for me to point out was Don "the Nuge" Nguyen, who plays the vibrant Shogo Kobu. "The flash in the pan" rep for Birdhouse Skateboards (Tony Hawk's company) Griffith Collins was stunt double for Jay Adams (with his long hair) while the behemoth pool monster John Ponts shredded the bowls as the (bald) Jay. The modern day acid hippie and pro Adam Alfaro suited up for the Tony Alva stunts. Also a lot of the original Z-boys and older skaters make cameos too: The actor Jay Adams hands the real Jay Adams a beer at a party, Bob Biniak is the angry restaurant manager, Stacy Peralta is directing himself in the Charlie's Angels shoot, Tony Hawk is the astronaut, Lance Mountain is the English guard, Chad Fernandez is the bitter Reef Ryan (this has to be the only real income Chad is receiving since he lost all his sponsors a while back).

The director does an awesome job of displaying how big of a cocky prick Tony Alva was; let's just hope his ego wasn't crushed when the director told the actor portraying Tony to be more of a dick. I was shocked to see Johnny Knoxville playing a semi-serious role as the macho hard ass company owner, Topper Burks - though the Jackass king did a good job. Heath Ledger's role as the hard-edged shop owner and team manager, Skip Engblom, was believable and touching, although quite extreme at moments.

The one thing I realized watching this movie that wasn't really talked about in Dogtown was the transition of Jay Adams from normal punk kid to thugged out vato. Jay really was the best and most creative one out of all of them. Finally today after all these years Jay is getting what he deserves. He is still skating and has a pro model shoe and board.

The movie started out slow and dull in my opinion, but as it progressed it really developed into an awesome tale. True, some things are flawed (for another example Sid wasn't on the team, he was a skate fanatic that really got brain cancer and invited the boys to skate his pool. The dogs hanging around the side of the pool is why the bowl is called the "Dog Bowl" but anyone who has seen the documentary a few times can tell you that). The film really does a good job of including all of the lore around the Z-boys: the early days of surfing at the pier, the first urethane wheels, the gimmicky contests, the true innocence and virginity of the sport at the time, and most importantly their love for skating. In the end the movie really stuck together, grabbed me and made me realize why I even picked up a board in the first place. Even if you don't know a thing about skating, you'll have yourself a good time at the movies watching Lords of Dogtown.