Lords of Dogtown (September 23/05)

While Lords of Dogtown is competently made and generally well acted (Heath Ledger, in particular, does an amazing job of disappearing into his character), the film suffers from an astonishingly uninteresting vibe that only gets worse as it progresses. Right from the get go, there's a feeling that the movie's been tailor-made to appeal solely to skateboarding fans - with little effort made to appeal to anyone else.

Set in the 1970s, Lords of Dogtown revolves around a group of skateboarders that somehow start a revolution within the sport - taking it from the fringes smack-dab into the mainstream. There's not much of a plot here; screenwriter Stacy Peralta (who was actually a pivotal figure in the whole thing) follows the example of films like Boogie Nights and Goodfellas, taking the characters through a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs as they attempt to cope with their sudden fame.

But Peralta never gives us a reason to care about any of these people - most of whom come off as obnoxious punks - and it's impossible not to wonder if the screenwriter actually expects the viewer to root for these guys. That virtually every single authority figure is portrayed as a broad stereotype certainly doesn't help, and proves that a more experienced writer should've been brought in to polish Peralta's script.

Director Catherine Hardwicke attempts to imbue the movie with the feel of a documentary by employing relentlessly jittery camerawork, a tactic which rarely works even in good films (so you can imagine how annoying it is here). And while there are a few effective moments sprinkled here and there - particularly the boys' initial trip to a competition - Lords of Dogtown is, on the whole, a thoroughly dull piece of work.