Celebratory skateboarding documentaries don’t get more perfunctory than this profile of Danny Way, a pioneering daredevil whose tough upbringing (lost father figures, a drug-using mother) is framed by his 2005 attempt to jump over the Great Wall of China. His pockmarked-by-tragedy life story is a testament to tenacity that, miraculously, is turned into a tale sorely lacking actual drama—at least until the historic feat provides a momentarily inspiring thrill. Director Jacob Rosenberg’s approach is heavy with archival footage and interviews, yet oddly features almost nothing from Way himself; his puzzling absence for most of the film turns the project into less of a biography than a one-note hagiography.
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