Movie Review: Skateland

Freestyles Releasing
In theaters: May 13th, 2011 (limited)
On DVD: August 30th, 2011
Directed by Anthony Burns
Rated PG-13
Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes:

Skateland,set against the landscape of upstart malls, Jordache jeans and iconic hang outs,is as much a story about embracing who you are as it is about moving on. The personal drama marks the poignant transition of a group of high school friends into adulthood. Set in the early 1980s, in small town Texas, it is genuine, touching and candid snapshot of the lives of a close-knit group of friends who are confronted with the realities of the precarious world around them. The film revolves around a charismatic young skating rink manager named Ritchie Wheeler (Shiloh Fernandez), brother and sister Brent and Michelle Burkham (Heath Freeman, Ashley Greene) and the legendary, wise-cracking, Kenny Crawford (Taylor Handley) as their dreams and carefree lives start to fade into an uncertain future. -- (C) Freestyle Releasing

Review:

I'll be honest, the absolute only interest I had in this movie came from the fact that Ashley Greene is in it (which seems to be a trend for me lately, only watching movies because a certain actor or two is in them).  The synopsis didn't sound incredibly interesting, and none of the reviews made it sound all that great either.  Lo and behold, I didn't really like this movie.  I just wasn't interested by the plot or anything else.  It was also extremely predictable.  Normally that doesn't really bother me, but there's one part of the movie that I'm pretty sure is supposed to be shocking, but I knew it was going to happen way before it did.

I wouldn't say the movie was bad per se, but I wasn't really into it.  I was slightly bored, but it kept me interested enough that I didn't give up on watching it through to the end.  I just didn't find the plot that interesting, and I didn't really connect to any of the characters.  I could see how others might like this movie, but it wasn't that great to me.