Grind

“Just keep skating,” people keep telling the four wannabe pro skateboarding buddies (played by Mike Vogel, Vince Vieluf, Adam Brody and Joey Kern) who spend the entire movie searching for a sponsor, “and somebody will notice you.” This propels the quartet on a cross-country pursuit of skating legend Jimmy Wilson and his entourage, during which the boys have their van stolen, ogle scantily clad groupies, play Slug Bug, fall in love, grab their crotches, skate in an empty motel swimming pool and develop a loose sense of brotherhood. Halfpipe and freestyle stunts and a slew of songs embraced by the skater milieu provide only some relief from amateurish acting and a rather lame script that seems to pride itself on the sexual objectification of females. So goes the directorial debut of Casey La Scala.