Grind
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: August 15, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
30
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
10
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
First-time director Casey La Scala and some talented stunt doubles squeeze in a fair amount of impressive skating footage, but the film around it will gleam the cube only of viewers with an unusually high tolerance for porta-toilet and Dutch-oven gags. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Suitable entertainment for boys too young to shave. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
If you've recently watched that great skateboarding documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys," Grind will play like a soft-pedaled Afterschool Special. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Sitting through the teen skateboard comedy Grind is, well, a grind. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
What Grind lacks in cinematic skill, it makes up for in heart, which is what most dudes-in-arms flicks are missing. Given the option of spending eternity with these gentlemen or the boys of ''American Pie,'' I'd choose the lads of Grind. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Here's what's missing from Casey La Scala's film: Likable characters, a comprehensible script and any semblance of a good time. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Manages to capture enough honest moments to make it watchable, but it's never really funny enough to recommend to anyone who's outgrown short pants and kneepads. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The most humorous actor in the film, Joey Kern as Sweet Lou the cradle-robbing ladies' man, gets laughs only because he's performing a note-for-note rip-off of the Matthew McConaughey character in "Dazed and Confused." Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
This movie is just not cool or hip or in any way extreme. Sitting through Grind is a real grind. Read full review
0
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Grind is an answer to the question that has been on the minds of many this summer: “Is there anything worse than Gigli?” The answer to this question is a resounding “YES!” Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Grind does evince a true love for skating, and both the street action and the actual competitions are brilliantly performed and slickly lensed. That it's also funny and excels beyond Youth Culture 101 is a nice bonus. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Director Casey La Scala directs with enough energy to carry the odyssey over the next ramp, but for all the eagerness of the performances, the conviction is strictly prepackaged. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Sweet, in its meandering way. It has no meanness in it, no cynicism, no desire to be anything other than what it is, an evocation of the fun of living your life as a skateboarder. Read full review
40
VarietyJoe Leydon
A textbook example of the charm-free ephemera dumped by studios during the waning days of summer. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAmy Taubin
A logo-laden celebration of the joys of sponsorship wrapped inside an innocuous teen-pic package. Read full review
20
Washington PostMatt Bonesteel
A lightweight skating story/road-trip film, is apparently the best it can do, which is to say, not good at all. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
If you stay awake, you'll certainly feel more than a little ground down after watching perhaps 15 minutes of skateboard footage padded out with nearly 90 minutes of strenuously unfunny toilet humor - all cheaply filmed on a budget that looks as if it would scarcely cover the catering bill for "Gigli." Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
While doing nothing to dispel the stereotype that skateboarding is the sport of brainless jackasses, Casey La Scala's directing debut does feature some nifty boarding action. Read full review
0
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
A crass, condescending piece of corporate bamboozling, Grind plays like a movie conceived by monkey-suited honchos who regard their targeted audience as impressionable nincompoops susceptible to every new trend in sports, clothing and music that comes down the pike. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Eager to please, but it’s so lacking in real-world skate politics that it more resembles the chugging PG-13 mediocrity of Top 40 pop-punk-lite than the hard-core Black Flagisms of Peralta’s scathingly real doc. Read full review
12
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
I think the guy who exited the advance screening after less than 15 minutes said it best. "This movie's garbage," he hollered, as the audience members tittered and shuffled their feet, which they continued to do throughout this humourless, hackneyed yawnfest. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Supplies stretches of actual skating footage by pros doubling for the stars. It's in these moments, freed from the earthbound pull of its market-tested components, that the movie briefly relaxes into the sheer thrilling audacity of flying into the air propelled by a board on wheels. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Buried somewhere under the gross-out jokes and the wet-lipped ogling at an endless parade of jiggling bikini-clad flesh in Grind is the kernel of a cheerful little movie about the world of competitive skateboarding. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
What the problem comes down to is a group of filmmakers making misguided choices in an effort to broaden the movie's demographics beyond those who attend X Games. Read full review
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