This film doubles as a peerless document of skateboarding as a legitimate American phenomenon *and* an unflinching look into the dark and doomed life of Mark Rogowski.<br /><br />Ms. Stickler deftly handles the thrill of Rogowski's career triumphs and the chilling fall from grace that no one could have anticipated or, sadly, prevented.<br /><br />'Stoked' stands bravely as neither celebratory nor exploitive; nor does it presume to answer 'Why?'. Instead, like the Maysles brothers' finest work, this film presents a 'fly on the wall' look at the Who, What, Where, and How with the precision and objectivity of a postmortem exam.<br /><br />It's tough to successfully reconcile the duality this film presents to its audience - the great retrospective fun of high octane 80s culture sits uncomfortably next to what is essentially a grim and unsettling story. Viewers have to sort out for themselves if Rogowski's doom was a product of his huge fame and subsequent & abrupt fall from the top, or if it was, sadly, bound to happen anyway.<br /><br />Rogowski could have been one of those elementary school teachers or office workers or Home Depot employees gone bad in what would have been an otherwise anonymous American murder story - but he wasn't: he was Gator. And as the authorities & families involved (and perhaps most tellingly, the friends & skaters in the periphery) in this dark tale will tell you, that may have made all the difference in the world.