(2001)
2
Buzz McClain
A little more than a series of montages of X-games activities -- snowboarding, surfing, paintball fighting, motocross riding, skateboarding -- connected by the familiar story of youthful life-lovers living to the fullest before maturation sets in after college (four years at a two-year school, in this quartet's case), Extreme Days works in spite of its intellectual limitations. The movie is like a loveable Labrador retriever that is all too happy to plunge into the surf time and again to get a stick, if it makes you happy. But when you look in its eyes, you feel a little guilty for taking advantage of something that's obviously not very smart. The gorgeous and engaging cast of fresh faces works its slacker tushes off in a bright, tight movie that is missing something that's kind of important -- tension. While their expertise on the slopes, surf, and sand is never in doubt, they're never in a contest where they compete, so they can never be winners; there also is no villain, which would be OK because the mind should be open to cinematic expression of all forms. But because there's nothing to rub their wholesome goodness against, there's no dramatic tension. The only friction comes from Brian's (boyishly handsome Ryan Browning) ridiculously clumsy efforts to woo the woman of his dreams, Jessie (cherubic cheeked knock-out Cassidy Rae). The action footage is fun, but by film's end you become aware that you'd rather be doing those things than watching. The worst thing a film can do is make you aware of your inertia.
Extreme Days on AllMovie
Extreme Days (2001)
