'Grind' turned out to be a better skate comedy than I had expected, but it had the potential to be so much better had the filmmakers not been so intent on serving up heavy doses of clichés and comedy homages )such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Thrashin', Dazed and Confused, The Search for Animal Chin, and more).
Mike Vogel plays Eric Rivers, a pretty good teen skater, who wants nothing more than to be sponsored. Difficult as it is to go about things the routine way of trying to pass on tapes to his favorite pro-skater, Jimmy Wilson, he figures he might do something different to get the sponsorship's attention. Very simply, he encourages his friends (also skaters) to join him as an amateur skate team, chasing skate demos across the country to participate in and show off their skill. Of course, what would an optimistic comedy such as this be without the routine of misadventures and increasing doubt among the characters to be resolved in the usual happy-ending wrap of with nearly all expectations filled for the main character (in this one, not all of the supporting characters don't get the finale treatment that supporting characters often do)? You should know what to expect.
But, what started out as a pretty good comedy eventually charges downhill as it becomes endlessly bogged down in unnecessary clichés (though some were to be expected in this Hollywood-styled conventional framework of "the underdogs") such as Matt suddenly reunites with his parents while the boys are trapped in the desert (which slowed down the movie even more with the corny tear-jerker dialog), the homage to Thrashin' in the finale where Eric challenges his annoying rival to a vert skate-off (which, although there are great skate tricks involved, becomes utterly ridiculous in attempt to end this stupid movie on as many whims as possible), the supporting character falling for Matt's girlfriend, and much more. This would be about the point where it bails...badly.
Aside from that, the movie does have some good moments, tremendous skate sequences scattered throughout, and a decent soundtrack. Look for many cameos by memorable faces: Stephen Root, Dave Foley, Christopher MacDonald, Bobcat Godlwaith, Tom Green (who is particularly funny), Pro-skaters Bucky Lasek and Ryan Sheckler (who offers a good inside joke), and especially Bam Margera who appears frequently throughout the picture, although not in the apishly immature form you may be used to. It is not the best that I have seen, but for a middle-of-the-road comedy about skateboarding teens (with one in particular chasing an ambition), this may be worth watching.
Mike Vogel plays Eric Rivers, a pretty good teen skater, who wants nothing more than to be sponsored. Difficult as it is to go about things the routine way of trying to pass on tapes to his favorite pro-skater, Jimmy Wilson, he figures he might do something different to get the sponsorship's attention. Very simply, he encourages his friends (also skaters) to join him as an amateur skate team, chasing skate demos across the country to participate in and show off their skill. Of course, what would an optimistic comedy such as this be without the routine of misadventures and increasing doubt among the characters to be resolved in the usual happy-ending wrap of with nearly all expectations filled for the main character (in this one, not all of the supporting characters don't get the finale treatment that supporting characters often do)? You should know what to expect.
But, what started out as a pretty good comedy eventually charges downhill as it becomes endlessly bogged down in unnecessary clichés (though some were to be expected in this Hollywood-styled conventional framework of "the underdogs") such as Matt suddenly reunites with his parents while the boys are trapped in the desert (which slowed down the movie even more with the corny tear-jerker dialog), the homage to Thrashin' in the finale where Eric challenges his annoying rival to a vert skate-off (which, although there are great skate tricks involved, becomes utterly ridiculous in attempt to end this stupid movie on as many whims as possible), the supporting character falling for Matt's girlfriend, and much more. This would be about the point where it bails...badly.
Aside from that, the movie does have some good moments, tremendous skate sequences scattered throughout, and a decent soundtrack. Look for many cameos by memorable faces: Stephen Root, Dave Foley, Christopher MacDonald, Bobcat Godlwaith, Tom Green (who is particularly funny), Pro-skaters Bucky Lasek and Ryan Sheckler (who offers a good inside joke), and especially Bam Margera who appears frequently throughout the picture, although not in the apishly immature form you may be used to. It is not the best that I have seen, but for a middle-of-the-road comedy about skateboarding teens (with one in particular chasing an ambition), this may be worth watching.