It's all relative... If you didn't go to the skating rink every weekend (Friday and Saturday), like we did in the 70s and 80s, you probably won't relate as well to these characters. This movie reminded us of all the Ffun, skating routines, disagreements (we had with "crosstown"), skate-offs, etc., we use to have along with the great music we enjoyed. It was a lighter time then, with way less violence. Kids could go places like the skating rink, dropped off by whoever and get picked up when the rink closed. Kept us out of trouble. So the negative reviews must be from a younger group of people who didn't have the chance to experience those good times. The movie was fun.