Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This Could've been good.But it could seem like the meat in the story ended up on the cutting room floor. They should've worked a bit harder on the 80's vibe ,they're trying to pass off. When you can't decide if you're making a love story,a drama,a coming of age movie,or just plain ol party movie.Than you bound to go wrong. The acting is kind of stiff,especially the interaction scenes between the boys and the girls.A lot of the conversation seemed forced and stilted. I guess is has to do with different chemistry between the two genders.There's also a big lack of background story here.basically the only thing you see is the guys partying and the girls walking around being drunk.All having meaningless conversations,only interrupted by one or two remarks about a girl's ass,as she walks across the room. I missed them having discussions about something relevant to the 80s period.Like Miami vice or something big happening in the world or on TV.OR the latest music video by a certain band on MTV. I've seen producers stray away from stuff like that before, to avoid putting the movie in a certain time frame.But this movie needed it,quite badly.I got the feeling they mixed Dazed and confused,with There goes my baby(which is a better more serious movie. I didn't quite get the 80s vibe they tried so hard to pass off.It needed more than just the clothes and the music.It needed something to grab your attention,make you interested in the characters and their life,as you follow them

At the end my son turned to me and said, "That's it?" I graduated hs in 1983 and my 13yo son loves rollerskating so we thought this would be a great movie to watch together. I've never seen Adventureland (mentioned by some other reviewers) but I'll admit to hoping this might have some similarity to Saturday Night Fever (disco vs skating) but don't get your hopes up. Some good: the acting and the music. Some Annoying and Bad; the oh so slow, wandering plot (what plot?), the lack of actual skating scenes and the unrealistic portrayal of 'small town' Texas (not everyone dressed with the best style all the time, not all girls were hot and brainless and not all boys had perfect hair and muscles - the young men in this movie look to be in their mid to late twenties and since when did small towns have a mall?). All in all, it was a pretty boring movie and we really wish there would have at least been some crazy fun skating scenes to make the movie more exciting.

I know a lot of people compare Skateland to Adventureland and I don't want to follow everyone else but it's kinda hard not too. Both have the coming of age in the 80's plot, both have a killer soundtrack and both have a Twilight gal, the thing Skateland has that Adventureland lacked was heart, what Adventureland has in laughs Skateland has in emotion. The plot isn't necessarily original but we all know Hollywood don't know what originality means, it stands out from the crowd because it doesn't drown itself in the cliché feel good factor.Shiloh Fernandez has graduated to leading man quite nicely, he has a very serene screen presence, and in this he sports the 80's shag to perfection. The scenes with him and his mother and sister are quite touching, I would have like to see a little bit of the story from the mothers point of view, she us almost painted as a cold woman so easily ready to abandon her children, but I picked up a vibe that there was more to the story than that.The reproduction of the 80's is flawless, from the hair and clothes all the way down to the posters on a bedroom wall. Props to the production designers for that, so many period films of late aren't convincing enough with these details.Check it out if you're in the mood for something a little different from the usual coming if age story, it's hard not to just sit back and enjoy the story unfolding before you. :)

I saw this movie (well most of it) at the SXSW Film Festival and was hoping to thoroughly enjoy it as I, too, was a teenager during the 80's. I thought the acting was very good, costumes were great and right on target, and the music and skating scenes definitely took me back. However, the editing was all over the place. There were too many plot lines and not enough threads to connect the importance of them. Without spoiling anything, there is a scene where the main female character is wearing a necklace before it has been given to her.The way females were characterized in this movie really struck me as tragic. With the exception of the main character's younger sister all of the female characters were portrayed as beautiful, clueless, only good for one thing, young women. In one line a girl is actually referred to as 'property.' I rarely leave a movie before it is finished (especially when the creators are in attendance and I'm sitting in the front row), but during the pool playing scene at Skateland I just couldn't take it any longer and left.I really feel the movie had potential, it just wasn't edited well at all. And to make matters worse the Director sent a LOT of kudos out to the editor before the movie started and quite frankly, they were undeserved.