Written and Directed by Mikey Alfred 
Starring Ryder Mclaughlin, Miranda Cosgrove, and Vince Vaughn
Not Rated 
Runtime: 93 minutes 
Available on demand May 14th 

by Miguel Alejandro Marquez, Staff Writer

North Hollywood has been a film talked about in the cinematic sphere since it’s bombastic trailer by Illegal Civ, the first ever production company made by teenagers. Ryder Mcalughlin of Mid90s fame (another well known skater picture), plays Michael, a high school graduate who has the freedom to choose his future. He is at a crossroads, with multiple avenues to his destiny. Everything is right in front of him. The only problem that he has is that he has too much freedom. He is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock being his father, played by Vince Vaughn, who tells Michael of the need for responsibility in his life, and the hard place being the difficulty of succeeding in a world where everyone has the same dreams as you. 

This is the first ever film about becoming a pro skater. This is also a film that takes young adulthood seriously. Not since the likes of Lady Bird has there been a film to take young adulthood with such gravitas. Where Lady Bird shines in showing the female perspective of being raised in a broken household, North Hollywood succeeds in propagating the male role in the same situation. It also asks the question of the role of responsibility in a young man’s life. Is responsibility a detriment if it makes you lose everything? 

The film’s soundtrack, a mixture of contemporary rap songs, with a flavor of fifties bops, unite us with a character trying not to stay in the same place his entire life. He sees north Hollywood as liquid cement, slowly hardening around him. This theme, and the music that accompanies it, compliments the story that North Hollywood is trying to tell. North Hollywood puts a focus on youth: everything from the highs and lows of young adulthood and one’s inability to truly know what the future has in store.

This is not to say that North Hollywood is a perfect picture. 

Mickey Alfred gives great direction when it comes to the skating portions of the film, filming it in a documentary style. Besides those moments, the directing didn’t feel too special. The storytelling was also at fault. Scenes come and go with no real momentum, for instance, a stolen skateboard is at the center of the middle act, but is never mentioned again. It’s only purpose is to drive the drama further. The character’s desire to steal the skateboard also is random, with no real development leading into it. Miranda Cosgrove gave a mediocre performance, with no real justification to her being cast. Her inclusion was more of a distraction than anything. One cannot see her without thinking: “that’s Miranda Cosgrove”, not: “that’s the character Rachel.” 

But the film does have it’s high points. 

Michael is a well developed character that wants a lot from life, with the harshness of it reality hovering over him. This is a lot like the storytelling told in Mid90s, a film directed by Jonah Hill and made with members of Illegal Civ. We even get a cameo from Mid90s Sunny Suljic in the role of Sunny. But it’s not fair to compare the two. Mid90s has some of the same cast of characters as North Hollywood, but we are seeing the role of responsibility in the eyes of a young man–a man with everything in front of him. A man who is pushed by others and by himself to make his dreams comes true. The finishing line is far from him, and he is trying to muster the energy to see the reason to keep on going. 

This film mirrors a lot of the central elements of Mid90s, from the subject material, to it’s characters. This film still has its own unique voice though. The plot tries to have a loose, Richard Linklater-esque presentation, interconnecting dramatic plots and it’s comedic characters with scenarios. This isn’t to mean that the Illegal Civ crew is distancing itself from the aesthetic that Jonah Hill created, but to offshoot itself from the brooding dramatic tone found in Hill’s picture. 

Mid90s and American Graffiti are great comparisons to North Hollywood. American Graffiti especially. The film works in parallel to the seventies classic. American Graffiti showed young adults with attitudes graduating from high school. They eventually are decimated with the harsh reality of life by the film’s closing credits. North Hollywood plays around with the same harsh reality, with the future being unclear for everyone. Cinematically, the film tips the cap at the era. During the middle of the movie, we see characters going to a drive-in diner, populated with fifties era cars and waitresses wearing the typical waitress. We step into a neon dream that was once a romantic look at the teenage years. North Hollywood does not come with this sentiment of romanticism, North Hollywood comes as a sucker punch to romanticizing youth, and has itself planted as a film that will not belittle the struggles of young people. The characters have warts, pimples, and get into fist fights. The main character’s future is unclear from the very get go, and sees it getting dimmer and dimmer each day. The film ends in heartbreak, but with an enthusiasm that the future will get better. It’s an optimistic outlook on an industry filled with people who come and go. Michael learns that he will have to mature and see that not everything has to be the way you want it to be. 

North Hollywood will come as a welcomed surprise to some and a return to the status quo of great skater cinema for those who surf on concrete.