Skateland was nominated for the 2010 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and in the film, it refers to a state of mind as well as a place. Skateland is a skating rink, pool hall and video arcade for teenagers in a nowhere town at the edge of nothing. The protagonist, Richie Wheeler (Shiloh Fernandez), works in the amusement hall and lives his life to the soundtrack of the early '80s new wave heard on the sound system. He's on the verge of graduating from high school and setting forth into an uncertain future even as Skateland is on the verge of closing. The land it sits on is worth more than the building and its contents. Skateland will soon be pulled down in favor of a big box store.
Out on Blu-ray and DVD, Skateland is among the better recent contenders in the line of teen angst films stretching back to the 1950s. It nails the period details of the early '80s and the roiling emotions of a family in divorce—and the realization that reality isn't always as it seems. The question dogging the plot line: Will Richie abandon the fraying comfort of familiarity and embrace the danger and thrill of moving on?
