Search

Gleaming The Cube

1989, Movie, PG-13, 105 mins

Gleaming The Cube: Review

starstarstarstar
Christian Slater is Brian Kelly, an Orange County high schooler whose skateboarding skills have reached a Zen-like state called "gleaming the cube" in skateboard parlance. His adopted Vietnamese brother, Vinh (Art Chudabala), works part-time with a Vietnamese relief organization. One day Vinh spots a discrepancy in a shipment of medical supplies, and is fired for his trouble. When he tries to investigate, he is caught and killed by the warehouse owner (Richard Herd) and a Vietnamese accomplice. Brian doesn't believe his brother's death is the suicide it's been rigged to appear, and sets out to discover the truth. The plot of GLEAMING THE CUBE is far from original, but the skateboarding sequences are exhilarating and add a great deal of excitement to otherwise routine material. The focus on the skaters' milieu, and especially Slater's initial involvement in and later rejection of its punkish juvenile nihilism, strengthens the story. Unfortunately, GLEAMING THE CUBE's portrait of the southern Californian culture that gave rise to the skaters' subculture is thinly sketched, as are the teen characters. Slater does a good job in his more substantial role, while the others--including skateboard whizzes Tommy Guerrero, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Mark "Gator" Rogowski, and Mike McGill, who doubles for Slater--demonstrate their talents with verve. Technical advisor and second-unit director Stacy Peralta, a former world champion, put his skating skills to use as well, shooting some scenes atop a board with a hand-held camera. Occasional flashes of insight are due to scenarist Michael Tolkin, who went on to write THE PLAYER and direct THE RAPTURE and THE NEW AGE. leave a comment
Advertisement

Advertisement

Related Websites

You might be also interested in the following websites:

Most Popular TV Shows

  1. Dancing with the Stars
  2. The Game
  3. NCIS
  4. American Idol
  5. Wife Swap
more popular tv shows

Most Popular Celebrities

  1. Michelle Obama
  2. Adam Lambert
  3. Tiger Woods
  4. Kym Johnson
  5. Donny Osmond
more popular celebrities

Most Popular Movies

  1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon
  2. The Blind Side
  3. 2012
  4. Planet 51
  5. A Christmas Carol
more popular movies

Top Videos

  1. Adam Lambert
  2. #5 Adam Lambert - For Your En...
  3. V
  4. #20 Adam Lambert American Mus...
  5. NCIS
more top videos