Grind (2003)
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Storyline
Taglines:
| 1: This Summer the underdogs have their day. |
| 2: Live Fast...Play Hard...Die Laughing... |
| 3: Go Big Or Go Home |
Plot Summary:
“Grind” sets out to authentically portray the skater lifestyle but unfortunately loses its way after the first half hour or so. What starts out as a promising buddy/road trip movie soon deteriorates into one of the most disjointed comedies (I’m using that term very loosely) of the year. “Grind” is funny when it doesn’t intend to be, and too often falls flat when it does go for the laugh.
In “Grind,” Eric the hunk (Mike Vogel), Dustin the college-bound serious guy (Adam Brody), Matt the slacker (Vince Vieluf), and Sweet Lou the ladies man (Joey Kern) take off on a cross-country journey in pursuit of their shared dream of becoming professional skaters. With only Dustin’s meager college savings and Sweet Lou’s old van, the foursome head out looking for a corporate sponsor. Deciding the best course of action is to chase skating legend Jimmy Wilson’s (Jason London) tour from city to city, they hit the road, running into trouble around just about every corner.
Two words sum up the basic problem with this movie: clown college. What does ‘clown college’ mean, you ask? It’s simple. When the four lead characters are stuck without a vehicle, any money, or a clue on how to get home, they visit a clown college - yes, you read that right, a clown college - where the parents of one of the main characters happen to be students. Or are they instructors? Never mind, it doesn’t matter. The point is that the four lead characters visit a clown college that seems to materialize out of nowhere. ‘Clown college’ describes in a nutshell just about everything wrong with this convoluted piece of mediocre fluff. Slap on some oversized shoes, funny costumes, apply lots of make-up and do a few tricks, and maybe the audience won’t realize there isn’t anything of substance underneath the movie’s ultra-thin outer layer.
I’m by no means an expert on skating, but I do know that the stunts shown in the big competition segment didn’t really impress me. Every stunt was shot from the knees down; the filmmakers didn’t even try to convince the audience the actors are doing their own stunts. Since the road trip/dialogue segments never pulled me in, the skating should have been the big payoff. By failing to connect the actors with the action, the movie failed yet again.
As far as the acting, I’m having trouble pointing the finger at any one performance, although Vince Vieluf as the slacker dude got on my nerves way before the end of the movie’s first hour. Ultimately, the blame for the film’s lack of coherence lies with its director, Casey La Scala. The movie flowed as though every scene and every line of dialogue was decided on the fly. The actors’ lack of ability to define their characters stemmed from a flawed overall production, led by a director who did not make his vision clear.
Skaters and skater fans deserve more than they receive from “Grind.” This is a prime example of a movie’s trailer actually being more entertaining than the film itself. My advice: Enjoy the trailer and pass on watching the full-length film.
Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide
Plot Keywords: bloopers-during-credits, crude-humor, road-trip, skateboarding, urination-scene, van, vomit-scene
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