Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator

The brief ascent and quick decline of Mark “Gator” Rogowski, a rebellious California kid who became--especially in his own eyes--the first superstar of the professional skateboarding scene, is sketched in conventional though fairly effective fashion in this modest and reasonably interesting documentary. Writer-director Helen Stickler's Stoked chronicles Gator's rise from adolescent obscurity, to recognition in the then-tiny world of skateboarding, and ultimately wealth and celebrity as spokesman for the biggest producer of equipment and clothes for the sport, before being convicted of a terrible crime. The picture uses archival footage--not only shots of Gator on the ramps but excerpts from the commercials and interviews from his heyday--along with well-chosen snippets of more recent interviews (including Rogowski's own reflections by phone from prison) to draw an evenhanded, though hardly nonjudgmental, portrait of a loose cannon whose careless disregard for any nicety of conduct led him to disaster. A tale of sudden success and abject failure that, apart from the skating setting, isn't terribly unusual, Stoked nevertheless serves as a useful cautionary tale for aspiring-to-celebrity-status adolescents. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include a timeline (1966-2000) with links to numerous featurettes and segments, the 22-minute TV special “Stoked: Uncovered,” two interviews (12 min. & 4 min.), two extended scenes, two skate demos, hotel pool and Christmas party featurettes (13 min. & 3 min.), four minutes of video outtakes, skate jam montages, a text confession, the brief clip segment “Ode to Vert,” an ad gallery, a “Poem to Brandi” and “Apology Letter,” trailers, Easter eggs, and weblinks. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a documentary sure-to-be-popular with young adults.] (F. Swietek)