Extreme Days (PG) ★★

After graduating from junior college, four friends plan to live out their childhood dreams of snowboarding, surfing and skateboarding across California. But the thrill of a lifetime takes an early twist for the worst and the four embark on a journey that instead becomes a trip about their lives.

Story

Corey, Brian, Will and Matt jump in their Jayota (a reconstructed Jeep with a Toyota engine) and head to the Baja Peninsula to begin their adventure. Corey finds out that his grandfather has died, and the gang plots a new course to Yakima, Wash., to visit grandpa G's grave and possibly collect an inheritance. Along the way they meet Jesse, Matt's cute teen-age cousin, who is headed in the same direction to study law. Predictably, Brian falls for her. They take part in every extreme sport imaginable along the way and bond by night in cheap motels or by campfires, lighting farts and pulling pranks. The group documents their trip with a video camera; Brian provides the voiceover. The plot is pretty lame and childish, but luckily the movie does not take itself too seriously. In a scene in which Will is immersed in a heart-to-heart with Brian, he yells out to Matt to do the voiceover.

Acting

Dante Brasco (But I'm a Cheerleader) plays Corey, the group leader and sarcastic prankster. Like the rest of the cast, he's natural enough but limited by a corny script filled with lines like, ''For the love of donuts, let's go!'' Ryan Browning plays Brian (The Intern), the good-looking 90210-type heartthrob who captures Jesse's heart. A.J. Buckley (Disturbing Behavior) plays Brian's levelheaded, advice-dispensing brother Will. Oddball Matt is played by Derek Hamilton (Disturbing Behavior, Fire Man), who seems to have taken a few cues from actor Crispen Glover. The only female lead in the film is Cassidy Rae (Favorite Deadly Sins) as Jessie, the blonde tomboy with a killer personality. The young actors did a reasonable job and were well cast, though it's doubtful any of them could really do any of the sports they were portrayed doing.

Direction

The concept of the film is based on two extreme sports videos (The Moment of Truth and The Moment of Truth 2) by Eric Hannah that achieved underground success. ExtremeDays is an extension of those, with double the music and emotional story lines. The end product is a lot of snowboarding, motocross, skateboarding, and surfing footage interspersed with teen-themed story lines. The action sequences, however, almost look like footage from other films spliced together, with obvious stunt doubles standing in for the cast. Though set to the music of such Christian bands as Newsboys, the film's religious theme is not blatantly thrown at you, apart from a few lines here and there (e.g. ''When God throws a curveball don't duck, you might miss something.'') There are also a few funny moments, including a camp site showdown with kung fu fighting sequences complete with bad dubbing and dialogue.

Bottom Line

ExtremeDays will definitely appeal to teens into the extreme sport scene, but no one else. No expletives, drugs or sex-just sports and silly pranks.