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Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Lords of Dogtown is one of those films that makes everyone who is not a citizen of the realm feel hopelessly disconnected. Read more
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Unlike the documentary, the movie is reluctant to delve too deeply into the darker side of its protagonists. Read more
Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune: Stacy Peralta, this is your life. Again. And again. Read more
Ted Fry, Seattle Times: It's a thrashing good time. Read more
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: A strong companion to Dogtown and Z-Boys. Read more
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: These kids can act, and they can ride those boards. Read more
Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: While the actors do a decent job capturing the aura of their characters, the writing, directing and editing stumble. Read more
Michael Senft, Arizona Republic: The young cast shines, especially Hirsch. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie is like a daydream, and it's most infectious when the characters are in motion or misbehaving, which is often. Read more
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Lords of Dogtown is as beautifully structured as one of the Z-Boys' graceful and intricate maneuvers. Read more
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: When the film works dramatically, it works because of [Emile Hirsch and Heath Ledger]. Read more
Michael Booth, Denver Post: Accomplished film. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Hardwicke is the rare director whose work is at once kinesthetic and delicate. Read more
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Lords can't quite sustain this adrenaline to the finish as it eventually loses focus and takes a fall into sentimentality. But when it excels, it brings that electric charge that comes when a film's style is perfectly matched with its subject. Read more
Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: The movie is distant and cold when it should be up-close and personal, a too-smooth concrete surface unblemished by the tread marks of human emotion. Read more
Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: A sports memoir fringed with punk rock clamor. Read more
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Peralta's script is hackneyed, Hardwicke's direction is flat, the cinematography is boring, the acting is atrocious, and the film's depictions of the '70s surfer/skateboarding culture at L.A.'s Venice Beach is scandalously cliched. Read more
A.O. Scott, New York Times: Lords of Dogtown, from start to finish, is pretty much a blast. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Catherine Hardwicke, working from a Peralta script and stealing the look and verve of his earlier documentary, turns in a dazzling, edgy and entertainingly blunt riff on the gnarly and how they got that way. Read more
James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Lords of Dogtown will have limited interest for those who exist outside of the skateboarding community. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Not only is there no need for this movie, but its weaknesses underline the strength of [Dogtown and the Z-Boys]. Read more
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Lords of Dogtown stays afloat, largely because many of its actors transcend Hardwicke's heavy-handed storytelling. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Peralta's script doesn't have a satisfying dramatic structure. Read more
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Lords of Dogtown is a fictional feature that tries hard to mimic the sun-baked realism of the documentary that inspired it. But mimic is all it does. Read more
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: For someone who was there, not to mention someone who created Dogtown and Z-Boys, Peralta has crafted a script so superficial and simplistic it feels like it was tapped out by a 14-year-old fan. Read more
Mike Clark, USA Today: It's hard to think of a movie since 1950's Sunset Boulevard that has gotten more dramatic impact out of a pool. Read more
Ed Halter, Village Voice: Leaner and sharper than its fast-and-furious TV spots would let on. Read more
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Lords of Dogtown isn't a cop-out, but rather an ever-so-slight concession to commercialism, while Dogtown and Z-Boys was, above all else, a love song to the counterculture. Read more
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: If watching Dogtown and Z-Boys was tantamount to witnessing history itself, watching Lords of Dogtown, which Peralta wrote, feels more like watching a stiff, meticulously choreographed reenactment. Read more