Wassup Rockers
First Look International | Release Date: June 23, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
12
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
Very different than "Kids." Where the earlier film was exhausting in its nihilism, the latest retains a good-natured charm. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
You could think of Larry Clark's Wassup Rockers as "Ferris Velasquez's Day Off." Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Somehow, this rollicking day in the life of a band of skateboarding Latino punk-rockers doesn't exude the voyeuristic smarm of previous Clark forays. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Throughout the film, music is used to define character and place. Two metal bands, Moral Decay and South Central Riot Squad, dominate the soundtrack whenever the gang is on the move. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
A thoroughly winning and unexpectedly observant lark about the antics of seven Latino skateboarding pals in South-Central Los Angeles. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Shifting his focus away from white kids seems to have done Clark good, because Wassup Rockers is the least sensationalistic, and hence the least moralistic, of his films. It's an enjoyable if haphazard picaresque. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
If "Crash" grew a pair of cojones, it might look something like Larry Clark’s cheerfully defiant Wassup Rockers. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
Could have been a spiky culture clash. When it tries to shock us with its alleged realism, though, it is entirely a bore. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The main characters may be refreshingly cliché-free, but almost everyone they meet in Beverly Hills is a stilted cartoon. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
However you respond to Wassup Rockers, it is completely alive, unlike any number of teenage Hollywood movies with their stale formulas and second-hand puerility. And that's mostly to the good. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
At a certain point, Wassup Rockers transforms from a relatively naturalistic slice-of-life portrait into a surrealistic funhouse trap. Read full review
60
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
What might have been a fascinating, intimate portrait turns into something much less compelling when Clark tries to impose a sex-and-action-packed narrative on the proceedings. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
It may be truer to the lives of his amateur cast to watch them engage in mumbly, inarticulate conversations between rounds of failed skate tricks, but it isn't especially cinematic. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The sexy, scruffy, neo-Warriors pageantry of ghetto teen hunger would have been a lot more vital if Clark didn't have such a class-war chip on his shoulder. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Wassup Rockers is amateurish, but without the redeeming qualities found in "Kids" and "Bully." Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Larry Clark's latest finds the grizzled shock-meister in a thoughtful mode and a mellow mood. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Ultimately more laughable than illuminating, at times approaching a level of camp commensurate with John Waters. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Some moments of off-the-cuff beauty aren't enough to mask the creepy heart of Larry Clark's latest look at outcast kids. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The stilted performances are especially unfortunate when one considers what a fine documentary Clark might have gotten out of the same material. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
In drama, tone, character and examination of the social issues tormenting these kids, Wassup Rockers is . . . taxing. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
As a filmmaker, Clark still seems more beholden to his roots as a still photographer: Images are sometimes worth a thousand words, but, ultimately, they will always be skin-deep. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It's hard to believe this shoddy, dishonest mess is Clark's sixth feature film, and not the unpromising debut of a rank amateur. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
The result is a well-intentioned mess -- a dishonest fantasy that begins with promise and gets more frustrating with every scene. Read full review
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