Grind

Grind is more of a skateboard montage then a movie and it is jammed deep into the year 2003. It's probably the most early 2000's teen movie you could ever watch, it's packed with punk rock music for nearly every scene as if someone from Warped Tour directed this movie.

I'm not going to waste time but if you love skateboarding and you love the early 2000's west coast era culture then you'll probably really enjoy this movie. It gave me nostalgia so it achieves something in a sense.

Some interesting cameos we get to see are: Tom Green, Bam Margara, Christopher McDonald and a bizarre appearance from Randy Quaid who plays a clown.

This could've been a terrible watch because the acting is mostly pathetic and it's horribly cringey at times but it has this weird balance and it ends up being not too bad.

Wow, I was surprised to hear people rip this movie apart like they did Gigli (although it's understandable for Gigli). This movie wasn't all that bad. I thought the cast was pretty good, and I loved Sweet Lou, but he was the Dazed and Confused rip off that someone else said. Granted, I will never buy this movie when it comes out on DVD, but it was worth the few extra bucks for the laugh. If you guys want a good laugh, without a lot of thinking (or plot) then see Grind. 7/10

Now I suppose I am being judgmental. I enjoyed the movie Out Cold like anyone else, and when I saw the previews I was expecting Out Cold on skateboards. I was wrong.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but in grind, all of the tricks they do are basic at best. I mean, anyone who has been skating for 6 months can kickflip. But oh well maybe i am just being judgmental.

Now as for the jokes, they were lame, Sure, the 13 year olds behind me were having a great time, but yeesh, I thought the jokes were over used and childish, especially the clown part.

And I will admit the pool jump was pretty funny, but I had seen it on the previews many times.

Eh...

I saw this movie on satellite with no preconceived notions. No it's not War & Peace but it was plain goofy fun like a cross between a "Road" picture & "Animal House". People who criticize this movie for not taking skateboarding seriously have totally missed the point. This movie could've been about ping pong & I still would have enjoyed it for what it was. Brainless fun. So if anyone is looking forward to basically shutting their brain down, but still getting a couple of cheap laughs I recommend this movie. It is NOT for young children. Some of the humor is "raunchy" but nothing anyone over the age of twelve hasn't heard in the school yard. It has a fairly basic moral (never give up) and not all the women in it are eye candy. Perfect for the demographic it was aiming for.

Take Blue Crush and Road Trip to the asphalt with boys instead of girls. The movie is an entertaining over-the-top story about four friends who decide to make the summer more interesting by trying to live the dream of becoming pro skateboarders. Their path to potential stardom is one full of roadblocks of all shapes and kinds. Don't look for any award winning performances here, but do look for some good laughs and some good and great skateboarding sequences.

Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf, Adam Brody and Joey Kern provide acceptable performances as stereotype characters sticking to the molds they have been given. Their performances are not bad, nor are they great, which allows the movie to be very watch-able - I don't think you'll be cringing because of poor acting, as you might have in other films. There are a lot of cameos (some good, some bad) in this movie - Randy Quaid, Christopher McDonald, Christine Estabrook, Bob(cat) Goldthwait, and Tom Green are the most recognizable ones.

If you like skateboarding and you're not going to be watching with too critical of an eye you'll enjoy the move even more than most. It's a watch-able, enjoyable movie. Hey, I didn't check my watch once to see if its almost over yet! Enjoy!