Common Sense Media Review
Pretty much a complete waste of time.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Grind
What's the Story?
GRIND is about four guys who hit the road in hopes of becoming professional skateboarders. One is the guy with the dream. One is the obnoxious guy who never changes his clothes and talks about sex all the time even though he's never had it. One is the risk-averse guy who just wants to save all his money for college. And one is the guy with the van who can get any lady he wants just by asking if she wants to make out with him. They hit the road for all kinds of highly un-funny adventures involving gross-out moments (one of the guys gets barfed on and peed on), and various un-funny hijinks (one gets involved with a girl who steals the van, the guys scam free food and try to scam their way into competition and into getting reviewed for sponsorship), and various un-funny encounters with the otherwise funny Randy Quaid and the never-funny Tom Green, all to a pounding soundtrack of mediocre hip-hop music.
Is It Any Good?
The press materials explained that "grind" refers to a particularly spectacular skateboarding move; in my case, it referred to what my teeth were doing as I sat through this dumb, boring movie. What a shame, because I was really up for a good skateboarding movie after last year's wonderful documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys. But instead, this is a complete time-waster with characters straight from cliche-land..
There are some guest appearances by real skateboarding champs that are fun for fans. Yet while there are some terrific stunts, the final skate-off with the arrogant leader of the championship team is filmed without any sense of tension or exhilaration. Indeed, it is exhilaration that is what is most missing from this movie. You never believe that these guys really love to skateboard; it seems that they just don't want to do anything else.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why Matt is so hurt by his parents' decision and why his behavior toward women is so inconsistent with what he says he wants from them. Why do the guys want sponsorship so badly? Will they behave differently toward other aspiring professionals than the way the current professionals treated them?
Movie Details
- In theaters : August 15, 2003
- On DVD or streaming : January 27, 2004
- Cast : Adam Brody , Mike Vogel , Vince Vieluf
- Director : Casey La Scala
- Studio : Warner Bros.
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 105 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : crude humor, sexual content and language
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
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