Review of Minding the Gap (2018) by Amheretojudge — 23 Jan 2019

Skate Away And Roll Away.

Minding The Gap Liu's documentary on a diverse group of people that are connected with one heart pumping passion is not only an essential eye opening subject to explore upon but is also a gripping and compellingSkate Away And Roll Away.

Minding The Gap.

Liu's documentary on a diverse group of people that are connected with one heart pumping passion is not only an essential eye opening subject to explore upon but is also a gripping and compelling family drama. As far as the clips of all the skateboard stunts are concerned, there is no need to look back. But one of the main reason why they work so smoothly on narration, is when the makers need a visual medium while someone is narrating, these clips help immensely for them to link all the parallel tracks perfectly. Divided into three tracks and three lives, the one that connects you with majorly is Johnson's or at least it did to me.

Since his track does not stand exceptionally alone, one can connect on multiple level with his life. On the other hand, the truly dramatic or cinematic of all, is of Liu's which is so sharp and powerfully executed that the emotions may rumble you down to tears. And the rest of the space is taken by Johnson who has his own dodgy issues where the other related to him too gets to factor in effectively, a fair and balanced trial put on by the maker.

Another primary reason it speaks more to the common people, is because they keep them grounded as much as possible, despite of having an exceptional life, the tiny details on their routines and light and breezy equation with someone, is how they easily get under your skin. Liu; the director, himself has done a splendid work on foliating the drama that they went through, it can be really difficult to project your own story with such conviction especially without any manipulation or milking too much of the material. Minding The Gap is the most balanced documentary possible, it sticks by its job, the genre never overtakes the content and the drama communicates with you.