Synopsis:
A young skateboarder failing at school looks to make it pro by winning the Tampa Am competition. However, a jealous friend will do anything to stop the talented Derrick from overtaking him in the hunt for skateboard success.
So what did I learn
about Street Dreams? I learnt that professional skateboarders
are better at skateboarding than they are at acting. I mean really, I
have a lot of good things to say about this film, but the acting is
very, VERY bad. That mixed with fairly amateur cinematography doesn't
hold up well when it comes to believability. But am I going to let
that phase me and take away from the film? Hell no!
It may come from my
passion for skateboarding, but I'm overly keen to forgive every bad
and predictable piece of dialogue in return of seeing some of my
favourite skaters in a movie. Although I highly doubt a regular
audience would forgive, I don't think it was made for any one else
other than skateboarders. Although it pushed along through a (fairly
simple) narrative there are elements here that only a skateboarder
would understand. Such as the skate video format of some of the
sections, and when your leads are none other than Paul Rodriguez, Rob
Dyrdek and Terry Kennedy, you can expect some excellent
skateboarding. Albeit you don't get as much exciting skating as you
would from a normal section but enough to keep the skateboard fan
happy.
But as said before,
this film break's free from the normal constrains of a skateboard
video and actually follows a narrative! It is a feature film in
skateboard video format, unfortunately though that's probably why
it's so hard to get believability out of the characters. But the
story here is one that rings true for a lot of young guys who are out
skating, having fun, and get looked down upon by society. At so many
moments in the film I was like, “Yup, that's exactly how I felt”.
Essentially, skateboarders go out to skate, and that's all we do, yet
we have to deal with the overreacting pigheadedness of society and
this film brings it to light marvellously. I suppose as skateboarders
we look at the world in a different, contrary kind of way, not
willing to conform to fashion trends or go out of their way to
impress or give respect to those who don't deserve it. I suppose it
would ring more true if you've been able to become a pro skateboarder
(or at least sponsored) as then you can see the true upside to this
story but even if you're just skating for the hell of it you can
relate to what these guys are going through.
Now, although I
complained earlier about the acting there are stand out moments,
particularly when Rodriguez's character gets into a fight with his
father, who is as it turns out a very good actor. After getting
arrested the two fight and it gets very heated and very believable.
Something I didn't expect to happen and it gave the film at least a
little bit of depth. All the other character archetypes are here, the
villain in Rob Dyrdek, as well as the nervous accomplice in the group
of friend's filmer. The wiser veteran, surprisingly taking the form
of a young Ryan Sheckler and then the comedy relief in the late Ryan
Dun, who by the way is hilarious. A fairly simple recipe but one that
highlights the skateboarder struggle not to mention a decent amount
of skateboarding too.
Overview:
Overall a very
predictable and amateur looking feature. However, the message it
brings is one any skateboarder can sympathise with. It's just great
to see these guys in another format and was a very interesting watch. If you're a skateboarder, you'll probably rate this 4-stars. Now all I need to see is a spin-off relating to transition
skateboarding instead of just the street... Tranny Dreams anyone?
Rating:
★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment