Grind

Grind - **

From various producers/directors/writers who brought you various films you don't want to see, Grind came out approximately 5 months before You Got Served, and serves as a foul reminder of that ill-fated film. Sports themed movies generally take one of two themes these days: either it involves a team of miscreants who get to know each other and end up winning the big game, or a group of unbelievably talented athletes who just need a chance to show off their skills. This movie and YGS both chose that pidgeonhole, and in the process took away any hope of originality. You know that the good guys are going to get their big chance at the end, at they're going to ace it. You know that the male lead will get the girl. Most importantly, you know there will be plenty of juvenile teenage hijinks throughout. That's pretty much "Grind" inside and out. The cast is perfectly alright at doing exactly what the script and director called for, but there's just nothing to work with here. I'm sure that entire scenes were scripted with a single phrase "Skateboarding Montage". Adam Brody is wasted here as fodder for stupid gags a la Vince Vieluf, not that he could have done much good in this muddled mess. Thumbs down.