According to movies, maturity can come about in a summer of whimsy through one of two ways: a few days of adventure between a few friends or an unforgettable night of youthful indulgence culminating in a tragic but life affirming moment. It’s a Hollywood and independent film staple that features great examples like American Graffiti, Stand By Me, and this year’s The Myth of the American Sleepover, all of which captured a very specific aspect of Americana. In the same vein comes the film Skateland, the story of a group of friends, some recent high school graduates and others with a few years of college under their belt, spinning their wheels in the last few weeks of summer as they enjoy the lack of responsibility and the imminent closing of an iconic location from their youth. It may not be destined to be a classic, but it has some great performances and a well-written dramatic kick to make it a memorable foray into the genre.
It’s been a slow summer for Ritchie (Shiloh Fernandez), who has spent every day since graduating from high school hanging out with friends at late night parties and the local roller rink, Skateland. His parents and his girlfriend, Michelle (Ashley Greene), push him to set some long-term goals for himself, using different tactics and levels of severity, like going to college, but that message has a counterpoint in the influence of Brent (Heath Freeman), his friend and Michelle’s older collegiate brother. Brent returns from college advocating a worry-free mentality and makes Ritchie doubt whether or not it’s a route he really wants to take. On the night of a big party, the consequences of Brent’s side activities catch up with him and Ritchie realizes just how important a sense of direction can be.
Just like Ritchie, the film needs that one galvanizing moment to give it worth and direction. It meanders through a first hour of set up wherein it’s established that our protagonist is trying to get a hold on something concrete. At first it’s Michelle, whose drive and motivations seem like ample substitution for his own lack of both, but it becomes clear to the audience, if not Ritchie, that it’s an untenable situation threatening to snuff out the softly burning romance they’re nurturing. Then there’s the titular location of nostalgia, Skateland, where Ritchie can lose himself in roller skating culture as he plays music and hangs about with friends – but even that has an endpoint as its owner has declared this summer to be Skateland’s last. And so the stage is set for Ritchie to latch on to the one person who expects nothing from him and never challenges him to aspire to greater things, only to have it snatched away for the sake of Ritchie’s growth. It’s a predictable build up, but there’s enough familiarity in the characters and those lazy summer afternoons to make it feel comfortable instead of formulaic.
The performances amongst the four young leads vary quite a bit, but there’s no denying that Shiloh Fernandez gives one the best he’s ever done that’s indicative of good things to come, and yet it still feels numb or half-hearted. It’s almost enough to make you forget completely about his horribly two-dimensional performance in Red Riding Hood, almost. He plays the teenager with fifth-life crisis well, but the uncertainty he plays into the character also reads like malaise and it makes it hard to figure out if his lack of direction stems from apathy, a lack of guidance, or a conscious effort to go nowhere.
On the other hand, you have Ashley Greene, who’s simultaneously gorgeous and a capable actress, but she has less to work with. Compared to the relationship between Ritchie and Brent, the girlfriend-boyfriend link between Michelle and Ritchie never fills out to be what it needs to in order to make the end acceptable. Not because Greene doesn’t fill her character’s shoes adequately, but because she outdoes Fernandez and creates a presence whose depth makes it hard to understand why she’d push so hard to keep the comparatively inert Ritchie in her life. Call it love, or call it a weak plot element, but Ashley Greene as Michelle makes the teenage romance hard to swallow, and it’s as much her excellence as a few unfortunate scripting choices at fault.
There’s enough in the story and the performances to easily warrant a viewing and perhaps even a purchase by those who find themselves sympathizing sufficiently with Ritchie’s reckoning, but it lacks enough of the right stuff in the right places (in writing and acting) which holds it back from rising to the heights of the genre.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
A selection of deleted scenes are all you’ll find.
"Skateland" is on sale August 30, 2011 and is rated PG13. Drama. Directed by Anthony Burns. Written by Anthony Burns, Heath Freeman. Starring Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Greene, Heath Freeman, Taylor Handley.
