Skateland

A film with some engaging performances and a swell soundtrack whose biggest problem is that it wants to be "Dazed and Confused" when it grows up.

Burns rebuilds the vibe a bit toward the end, but by that time the clumsy drama has overshadowed the mellow atmosphere. It's a total bummer.

The movie tries to capture the mood of a time and place, but instead the scenes feel arbitrary and sometimes even pointless.

Like so many other films set in the Reagan era, Anthony Burns' directorial debut fails to acknowledge the lingering and pervasive angst that shaped anyone growing up in the late Cold War.

Buoyed by Fernandez's nicely shaded turn...but ultimately it coasts along according to such predictable beats that it seems prefabricated.