 Lords of Dogtown, the film aimed at teenaged boys but directed by a woman, Catherine Hardwicke, is landing with a crash among most critics, nearly all of them comparing it unfavorably with the earlier documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys. Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News writes that the script by onetime skateboarding champ Stacy Peralta, who directed the documentary, "is hackneyed, Hardwicke's direction is flat, the cinematography is boring, the acting is atrocious, and the film's depictions of the '70s surfer/skateboarding culture at L.A.'s Venice Beach is scandalously clichéd." Amy Biancolli in the Houston Chronicle sums it up this way: "In the end it isn't much more than the rags-to-riches tale of ghetto kids who skate well and land a few plum endorsement deals." On the other hand, Chris Vognar in the Dallas Morning News writes that "the high-flying maneuvers and swirl of hormones and excitement keep Lords flowing fast and furious." And A.O. Scott in the New York Times says that "from start to finish [it's] pretty much a blast." |
