Wassup Rockers

R

2006

1 hr. 51 min.

Drama

List

38%

53 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Young Latino skateboarders (Jonathan Velasquez, Francisco Pedrasa, Milton Velasquez) model themselves after the Ramones music group and cut loose in Los Angeles.

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Critics Consensus

As usual with Clark's films, the fixation on kids is rather creepy, plus the plot eventually runs off the rails into camp.

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Audience Member

I thought it gave an interpretation of a side of the story from those who otherwise would not have had their story told. It's a great perspective piece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Wassup Rockers is a strange film by a very unusual director. It doesn't have the hard-hitting edge of previous works like Kids, Ken Park, or Bully, but it still proves to be a very interesting and messy experiment by a director seeking new boundaries and topics. It's also strangely light-hearted, considering the director (though not entirely without moments of violence and some sexual content). The story follows a group of Latino boys from Los Angeles who like to skate and play punk rock music in a band. One day, they decide to travel by bus to Beverly Hills where they find themselves in a series of misadventures like running from the police, visiting a hot girl at her mansion and getting into a fight with preppy boys, and other bizarre scenarios. Amidst the frantic pacing, the film also takes time to tackle the issue of race as the boys are scrutinized for being Latino, as well as the issue of class. It doesn't dive deep into its subject matters, making it feel like a bit of a step back compared to the uncompromising, in-your-face tone by Clark's aforementioned films. But what really holds this film together are the cast who are interesting, funny, and feel believable. The film may be shaky on a story level, but as a character piece, it works quite well. In the end, Wassup Rockers is another enjoyable film by a controversial director. It may not have the bite of his previous work, but it remains a strangely compelling nonetheless.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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scott m

You need professional actors to make movies. Not amateurs. The skateboarding was great, but these kids were boring as hell.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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simon d

Unusually uncontraversial film for Larry Clark. Once again he is exploring youth life in America, this time a group of hispanic skateboarders who leave their "Ghetto" to skate in Beverley Hills. The standard of acting is poor, especially outside the main group of kids. It's a tough film to get into but the pace does pick up and you do start to begin to enjoy their adventure which has a mixture of emotions all packed into one afternoon of stakeboarding.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

Larry Clark is a genius. This film is chilled out, observant and has that down to earth gritty atmosphere like in Kids and Bully.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

Creative, well-produced flick. Some of the kids really can't act, and some of their adventures are unrealistically excessive, but entertaining story nonetheless.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Larry Clark

Director

Jonathan Velasquez

Jonathan

Francisco Pedrasa

Kiko

Milton Velasquez

Milton

Usvaldo Panameno

Porky

Eddie Velasquez

Eddie

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 2.5/5

Jul 22, 2006

Full Review

Dallas Morning News

Rated: B

Jul 8, 2006

Full Review

Peter Hartlaub

San Francisco Chronicle

Tries to say something profound about these kids, while oversimplifying the world around them to the point of ridiculousness.

Rated: 1/4

Jul 7, 2006

Full Review

Dan Sallitt

Senses of Cinema

So often called exploitative, Clark instinctively avoids exploitation where most filmmakers plunge in, showing both the terrors and joys of the kids' inner city existence without amplifying them into dramatic hooks.

Oct 17, 2018

Full Review

Jon Frosch

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

Clark's warmest, loosest work yet, but it would have been better if the director had realized he didn't need to make us hate everyone else in order to get us to love these little dudes.

Sep 12, 2010

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Boredom is the loftiest running theme in Larry Clark's films, and "Wassup Rockers" (imagine asking to buy a ticket for that title) takes dullness to a new low.

Rated: D-

Apr 23, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

Young Latino skateboarders (Jonathan Velasquez, Francisco Pedrasa, Milton Velasquez) model themselves after the Ramones music group and cut loose in Los Angeles.

Director: Larry Clark
Executive Producer: Patrick Meehan, Sharon Stone
Screenwriter: Larry Clark
Production Co: Glass Key
Rating: R (Teen Drinking|Pervasive Language|Some Violence|Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 2006
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 8, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $221.4K
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital