MOVIE REVIEWS
Lords of Dogtown
Josh Brown
Dogtown, also known as Venice, California. The dirty, rundown, piece of shit paradise, as it was described in the movie. The city on the sea where three teenage surfers became the start of a revolution: Skateboarding.
When I first saw the previews for this movie, I was intrigued, curious. All my life I have been around skaters and the skating world, but never quite got my feet wet enough to be one of them. Not because I wasn’t interested, because I have always been fascinated by the sub-culture of skaters. I just never became one of them, because well, that lifestyle wasn’t for me. The rebellious, rogue, carefree attitude of skaters I could never quite pull off.
But watching it and learning about it is a whole different ballgame. One I could play without hesitation or worry.
“Lords of Dogtown” is a movie about Tony Alva and his two friends who are considered the originators of skating as we know it. It documents their transformation from surfers to skaters and how they fell in love with it, and eventually how it led them to bigger and better things; girls, money and fame. It also tells of how the fame ruined their friendships with each other and everyone else who was there from the beginning. It chronicles how each one of them thrived and/or struggled with the instance success and notoriety they received, all while attempting to tell how in the end, their love for skateboarding and their lifelong friendships were too strong for the forces of evil to rip apart.
The story told is brilliantly done, as the directors tried to stay clear of focusing on one particular boy and instead detail the friendship between all three. It shows how life truly was for the first skaters, and does a great job of showing just how revolutionary they were compared to the skills of everyone else in the country.
The language was just that of surfers in the 70’s: A little over the top, maybe, but an accurate portrayal from what I understand, nonetheless. It was a nice dose of comedy mixed with real-life portrayals of hardships and difficult decisions.
For those interested in a die-hard skating movie, this isn’t it, because it truly is the beginning of the sport. It’s basically surfing on pavement, and none of the tricks you see today are showcased in the movie, because well, they just weren’t doing them then. But for those interested in how it all began, and can tolerate the repetitive surfing lingo (“hey bro…” for example), then this movie is a must see.
