Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Grind was a movie that randomly popped into my mind one day, for I remembered it was one of the few skateboarding movies out there. I hadn't seen it until now, and all I can say is that I'd maybe like it if I saw it at age 8 when it was released. Plot- It doesn't even try. A kid takes his dumb friends on a road trip to skate at a competition. Some funny things happen along the way but none of it feels genuine.Writing- Cringe worthy at most parts. It all felt so awkward, and it seemed as if an entirely new script would have been fine as long as they still met up with Bam Margera and company. Acting/ Characters- The writing always brings down the characters, and as stated, I thought it was very poor. Not the worst, but I mean the characters goof around in the weirdest ways, none of them are distinctive beyond a one or two word stereotype, and you end up with relative good actors playing poorly written hooligans. So in turn, the acting in itself wasn't bad, just awkward. I really got annoyed with the character Sweet Lou that is almost identical to McConaughey in Dazed in Confused. He looks like a total fool.Quality- Yikes. I watched this hoping that at least the skateboard scenes would be juicy, much like an action film with dull moments in between. The skating scenes are awful, they could have just filmed it like a real video. All you see is their feet, barely an attempt for realistic stunt doubles, and the tricks they do are laaaame- you will not be dazzled, fellow skaters. This movie looks like it was shot in a hurry, the most bland angles, lazy editing.Overall I gave this a 3 mainly because I'm considering the nostalgia aspect- people who saw this as a kid may like it, but I didn't, and I don't. I also don't give 1's much. It has no pizazz, no realism or insight into the lives of skaters, no driving plot points. Just attempts, failures, and success, all driven by an awful sense of humor and the sheer obligation to simply make a skateboarding flick for the big screen.

This is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. I stumbled across Grind during a round of channel-surfing years ago, and even though the movies was halfway over, it was so hilarious that I decided to watch it to the end. After that, I had to see how the story started, so I went hunting for it on Amazon and bought it. To this day, I still pull it out at least three or four times a year when I need a good laugh. The funny parts stay as funny as they were the very first time I saw it, and that's saying a lot, because I've watched it dozens of times over the course of the years since it was a new movie. Even if you don't like skateboarding or know nothing about it, you'll enjoy this movie. And the cameos just make it that much better. This is the movie that first made me fall in love with Adam Brody and Jennifer Morrison, and as a result, I became a big fan of both Once Upon a Time and The O.C.

Grind (2003): Dir: Casey La Scala / Cast: Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf, Adam Brody, Jennifer Morrison, Joey Kern: The title is a suppose skateboarding term but it feels like a play on our patience. How many times have we seen some moron leave their keys in their car only to have it stolen by some innocent looking chap? Is it too much for a person to just remove the keys and put them in their pocket? Four skateboarders leave their small town life and follow a skateboard champion in hopes of gaining a sponsor. The story is about as exciting as careening down a flight of stairs and landing on a bed of nails. Casey La Scala does a fine job directing the skateboard action but the characters are hardly interesting nor sympathetic for that matter. Some characters have promise such as ladies man Sweet Lou who seems to have a date for every night of the week. Another character comes from a family of clowns. Alas, they are merely seen as props. Other roles are flat including the hero with big dreams and his best friend who blew his college money so that he could appear in this mess. Cast includes Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf, Adam Brody, and Jennifer Morrison whom hopefully won't suffer too much because of this charade. Joey Kern plays the idiotic Sweet Lou but he is stuck in a screenplay that is none too sweet. Celebration of skateboarding given a story that grinds into our patience. Score: 3 / 10

Even though I saw this like 4 years ago I can remember that this is a great movie, for what it is. It is a movie with good enough skateboarding, funny jokes and a good story. There is nothing specifically great about this movie and it cant compare with movies like The Shawshank redemption but that is something completely different this movie is a fun movie that does what it is supposed to do - entertain.It is about 4 skateboarders that go on a quest. If you are looking for this type of movie watch this one. The acting is also good enough. I will remember this movie for the rest of my life.I'm not exactly sure why I like this movie so much but I think its because its so fun to watch with friends. I think a couple of years back me and my friends saw this like 20 times.