Now in Limited Release in New York, and California; debuting November 10th in MN, November 15th at the Gateway Film Center in Columbus, OH, November 26th at the The Texas Theater in Oak Cliff, TX, and December 9th/10th at the Cleveland Cinematheque in Cleveland, OH. Check Local Theater Listings.
I guess if you fancy yourself a completist, or have to watch every sports movie ever made, “Skateboard: The Movie” is a fascinating relic of a pretty great bygone era. It’s not at all a good movie per se, but I liked director George Gage’s movie for the way it works as a time capsule for the late seventies. It was a precursor to a lot of interesting concepts, including turning skateboarding in to a bonafide tournament sport, the way the media would inevitably drift over to skateboarding, as well as the whole attitude of the decade. The entirety of “Skateboard: The Movie” is punctuated by a lot of moog/synthesizer music, as well as a ton of pretty good pop rock music that lends it a real energy.
Newly restored from a lost 35mm print by Factory 25, Hollywood agent Manny finds himself in debt to a powerful bookie who is threatening his life. To make a fast buck, he recruits and creates a team of exceptionally talented skateboarders and enters them in a downhill race. If they win, they will get $20,000.
Director Gage (and writer Dick Wolf) features a lot of newers faces in his film including Alan Garfield, icon Leif Garrett, Tony Alva, Ellen O’Neal, Richard Van der Wyk, along with a lot of actual skaters like Jay Adams, Jimmy Allard, Ellen Berryman, Bob Biniak, Rene Carrasco, Steve Cathy and so many more. Technically, George Gage’s movie is really rough around the edges. The staging of various scenes is shaky at best, the dialogue is stilted and a lot of moments intended to amp up the dramatic tension is completely botched by the bad audio. Factor in the obvious lack of acting experience from most of the cast, and it can get awkward.
To make things worse, main character Manny Bloom is kind of a slime ball that spends a majority of the movie manipulating and exploiting these teenagers. While the movie does try to frame it as a darker sports film in the vein of “The Bad News Bears,” the writing can never quite redeem the central character, no matter what creative leaps and bounds the script performs. That said, “Skateboard: The Movie” has more sentimental value going for it over quality in the end, and in that respect it’s a charming film. Despite the shaky dramatic scenes, Gage manages to achieve some riveting moments involving the skaters and their tricks.
There’s one particular scene involving an exhibition for a small audience that is absolutely impressive and well edited. The finale with the downhill race that the film builds up to is also pretty darn engaging, and you can see how it influenced future (superior) skater films like “Airborne” and “Lords of Dogtown.”