"Hardwicke is the rare director whose work is at once kinesthetic and delicate. She stages LORDS OF DOGTOWN with a rushing, caught-on-the-fly realism...she makes her characters vibrant and full."
Entertainment Weekly

"[A] blast....[The] scenes have both the loose, stop-and-start rhythms of a long summer day and the restless, competitive energy of young men in the heat of adolescence."
New York Times

"Heath Ledger is a keen acting surprise....The skating scenes are their own reward..."
USA Today

"The rowdy and sometimes painfully raw LORDS OF DOGTOWN is a perfect marriage between film and skateboarder, and the way in which the camera tracks every incredible move of the movie's virtuosos gives it a dynamic, exhilarating energy."
Los Angeles Times

"[T]hat rare teen flick that truly understands the teenage soul."
Movieline's Hollywood Life