Lords of Dogtown

The Surfers are back in town in Lords of Dogtown, a fictional recreation of the world of the high-octane take-to-the-waves film by Stacey Peralta, Dogtown and Z-boys, which attempted with some success to give a history of surfing since the 70's, starting off from Venice Beach beginnings when surfers began as skateboarding enthusiasts. Hardwicke attempts to capture this free and easy world where balance, poise and daring feats on a board were everything. Jackass's Knoxville plays a promoter, Ledger gets to play an off-the-wall leader of the pack and De Mornay gets to play the mother of one of the kids.

Its difficult to know why the film was made since the original surfing documentary was so good but I suspect the studio behind it saw a niche market and also the chance to fictionalise the period and attempt to get to the heart of what drove this group to strive for ever bigger thrills. It half works.

Matt Arnoldi