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Skater dude Danny Way wants to jump over the Great Wall of China. Do you think he'll make it....?
First Run / 80 Minutes / 2012 / Rated PG-13 / Street Date: March 5, 2013
In Waiting for Lightning, Danny Way wants to jump via skateboard over the Great Wall of China. For a non-skater type like myself, this sounds more like a Jackass stunt than an actual sports endeavor, but from the movie’s opening moments, it’s very clear that this guy’s heart is in this 100%, and even if he doesn’t make it, he’s going to give it his all while trying.
As we rotate from jump-prep footage to interviews and photo montages about Danny’s early life, skateboarding transforms from just another hobby this guy spends time doing into a legitimately passionate drive within his life. We discover just how broken his home became at a time, we hear from mothers and friends about the difficulties Danny faced in his adolescence (and into adulthood) – if anything, director Jacob Rosenberg wants to do whatever he can to paint a well-rounded picture of his subject: Danny Way is a deeply enigmatic person, not just some dumbass daredevil.
Waiting for Lightning is not a particularly nuanced documentary – as evocative as it can sometimes be, it feels a bit cobbled-together at times – but once it sets its claws into you, the least you’ll be able to do is finish the damned thing. I mean, it’s interesting to learn about this guy’s life and times and everything, but you’ve got to see whether the dude makes it over the Great Wall, right?