JUNE 3/4/5

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They took surfing
out of the water
and onto 4 wheels

Viewing Hollywood's romanticized version of screenwriter Stacy Peralta's "Lords of Dogtown" is better for all the obvious reasons if you have not seen the award-winning documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys," which the movie is based on. The doc was gritty, honest, and showed the characters in an unglamorous light as a bunch of latch-key kids of single or absent parents who had to fend for themselves in an armpit section of 1970s Venice, Calif.

"Lords of Dogtown" Rated: PG-13 Opens Friday at: Consolidated Kahala, Kapolei, Koolau, Mililani, Pearlridge and Ward; Signature Dole Cannery, Pearl Highlands and Windward

That's not to say that director Catherine Hardwicke's effort isn't enjoyable or even somewhat involving, but the director of "Thirteen" plays to a younger audience in this skateboarding version of "Blue Crush."

The film opens with spray-painted credits while the gray-colored, choppy waves of the Pacific Ocean provide at least some foundation for the kids' youth in poor, white-trash Dogtown, as they affectionately call Venice.

Their passion is surfing, but as the story unfolds, the teens' futures depend on the skateboards they ride to work, a surf shop where they hang around under the tutelage of the alcoholic and drug-addled Skip Engblom, played by Heath Ledger in an over-the-top combination of Dennis Hopper and David Crosby.

(This reviewer grew up in Hollywood with Engblom, and Ledger has gotten his voice down almost perfectly.)

The Z-Boys' favorite surf spot fits their down-and-out lifestyle: under the rubble of a deserted ocean park pier at a dangerous spot called The Cage, where lost boards often crash against pilings.

A handheld camera using dizzying zooms, combined with rapid editing, follows the boys as they skate, dodging obstacles like overturned trash cans, staircases, even Mexican gang members, and later surf through the pier.

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"LORDS OF DOGTOWN" is based on these real-life skaters, dubbed the "Z-boys," as they compete in area contests as reps for Engblom's Zephyr Surf Shop in Venice. Starting in empty swimming pools, the team moves on to packed arenas as they win contest after contest, becoming nationwide celebrities, with their moves captured on the pages of skating magazines.

On the road to success, they must decide whether to stay loyal to their Dogtown roots and stick together and make headlines as a team, or take what they can get individually, marketing personal successes, that, of course, threaten their friendship.

Now-Hawaii resident Jay Adams, considered the founding father of competitive skating, is played remarkably by Emile Hirsch ("The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys"). Hirsch's performance makes some of this drama work as he slowly transforms from a wide-eyed surfer into a mucho Mexican gang hood, dressed like a gang member, with his head shaved and neck tattooed.

When John Robinson ("Elephant"), who plays Peralta, at first doesn't make the Zephyr team, he sets out on his own to prove his abilities -- and does. Engblom calls Peralta "bro," and Robinson's rosy cheeks blush even brighter, believing he has received the best compliment a skater can get.

The film's supporting cast is likable. One of the more interesting performances is by Michael Angarano as Sid, the Lords' lovable, bumbling best friend-rich kid who doesn't look cool or have the skills to be a pro skater, but is still accepted.

A practically unrecognizable Rebecca DeMornay doesn't have much to do, playing Adams' alcoholic, promiscuous mother.

THE FILM exceeds some expectations because of its talented ensemble cast. Director Hardwicke knows how to tell a story, which is where many sports dramas fail. She nails the 1970s setting, and makes the unspectacular amusing, if not interesting, and almost holds our attention for two hours.

Unfortunately, most of the characters are one-dimensional, with little or no backstory, and the movie skips from one episode to another so fast that it's like viewing a highlight reel. The real guys showed a lot more charisma and realness in Peralta's documentary than the actors playing them here.

Poor character development is frustrating for the viewer as subplots are dropped. Romances start up, then vanish, and betrayals occur without consequences. (And in an odd omission, no mention is made of Jeff Ho, who actually founded Zephyr Surfboards, then partnered with Engblom.)

The movie ends with a manipulative denouement that is supposed to make viewers feel something.

"Lords of Dogtown" should have surpassed the documentary that inspired it, with the fictional drama amplifying the facts. These Z-Boys, however, never show us a story so riveting that we should ever see them as anything more than just boys.

But the young audience it is geared to, and especially skaters with a less critical eye, will appreciate "Lords of Dogtown."