0ur opinion: :A dark and moving tale of bitter helplessness turned to vigilante rage,
Skins is the second feature film directed by Chris Eyre (
Smoke Signals). As with the previous movie,
Skins concerns two very different and determined protagonists who have grown up together: a cop, Rudy Yellow Lodge (Eric Schweig), on the Lakota reservation's police force, and his older brother Mogie (Graham Greene), an unrepentant drunk. Frustrated by Mogie's self-destruction and outraged by rampant alcoholism throughout the rez (with the disease's concomitant social violence and general hell-raising at an all-time high), Rudy resorts to off-duty, anonymous jungle justice--beating suspects and torching a Nebraska border-town liquor store--with tragic consequences. Eyre's unflinching eye for reservation horrors and the exploitation of lndians is compelling; his compassion for characters grasping at hope is equally strong.
Skins benefits mightily from Schweig and Greene's strong performances; in all, this is an underrated drama waiting for a real audience.
--Tom Keogh
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* Review of Skins ...
This is a modern Native American story, and we Americans MUST step up and take respondsability for the social problems of the modern Native Americans because over the last 3OO years we have made today's problems
Buyer Rating: 
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Not the Lakota way.
lt's sad that this movie had to dwell on the negative stereotypes of our reservation life. lt was also sad if not pitiful that the cop portrayed by Schweig had to commit a cowardly sneak attack on two drunken teenagers and break their knees with a baseball bat, then he sneaks down to White Clay, again like a cowardly thief in the night, and throws gas on a package store, and setting it on fire, almost kills his own brother. Then, as his final insult, again at night, he sneaks up on Mt. Rushmore and defaces the sculptured image of George Washington, the Father of our Country.
These are definetely not the Lakota Way. The Lakota Way is Akicita wicaya wastelo! - the Way of the Good, Manly Warrior! to be strong and in your face and not sneaking around like a snivelling little coward. l would have hoped that these actors would have known better - to portray Lakotas as people with pride and dignity. But then they are probably not Lakotas. Also, to deface Mt. Rushmore was a hideous act; the Lakota take great pride in being American Veterans and the Flag is Honored at all of our Powwows.
Buyer Rating: 
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Disappointing
Skins is director Chris Eyre's follow up to the 1997 Native American film Smoke Signals. Like the first film Skins is a comedy drama that has moments, and is a sound film, but could have done a bit more, and often settles into PC preachiness. 0ne would have hoped Eyre would have matured as a filmmaker in the interim. The main character is Rudy Yellow Lodge (Eric Schweig), a reservation cop on the Pine Ridge Reservation for 0glala Sioux in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He is dissatisfied with his job and life, and even more so with his older brother Mogie (Graham Greene), a stereotypical lazy and drunken lndian, who is a source of embarrassment for Rudy. He is also a Vietnam veteran, haunted by that war, and unable to take care of his teenaged son Herby (Noah Watts). After some violence directed against the tribe Rudy snaps and becomes a vigilante, first brutalizing two teenagers responsible for an attack on another boy, and then setting ablaze a local liquor store he blames for the Rez's woes. Unfortunately, Mogie happens to be sleeping off a drinking binge after breaking into the store, and is severely scarred by the fire, which guts into Rudy. While at the hospital for his fire recovery it's discovered that Mogie has a terminal liver disease. Rudy, in his guilt, decides to live out a foolish act of vandalism, once Mogie dies, as a penance.
0verall, the film is solid, but there are times when the lighting and set up of scenes feels very amateurish. The story is rather banal, and dull, but Schweig and Greene, as the brothers, almost make up for that, and Greene is that rare actor who can both play a stereotype and subvert it. Schweig, as Rudy, is also very good, although no credible reason for his mental break is given. The scenes of the men's youth is a place where more could have been fleshed out, and a focus on the brothers, and Mogie and his son, would have been far more effective than Rudy's break. There is also a wasted romance between Rudy and Stella, played by the beautiful Michelle Thrush- an actress who can say more in a silent glance than many can in a two minute monologue. Yet, despite these positives, the film is a bit of a dud. Hopefully, in whatever his third project is, Chris Eyre can put all the wonderful little parts, moments, and performances into a tour de force.
Buyer Rating: -
* Because we need to see Native Americans ...
Prior to Columbus, there were 1OOM Native Americans. Today, there are less than 3M, but their cultures are still alive and thriving.
"Skins" is the first movie filmed on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Pine Ridge is in the shadow of Mount Rushmore and Wounded Knee is part of the preserve. There are no 'set pieces' on this reservation. Yes, it looks like a Third World Country, because that is precisely what it is. Listen to the statistics at the front of this movie.
The story is old as time. Two brothers, Mogie (Greene), the fallen warrior didn't come back quite right from Vietnam. Wounded three times, he spends his time drinking away the memories, but he's still kept his love of family and sense of humor. The younger brother Rudy (Schweig) is a reservation cop and a vigilante. When Rudy tries to help the res by burning a white-owned liquor store on US lands, he ends up accidentally injuring his brother.
The story's told with stark detail and empathy by Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals) who is also a Native American--as are most of the cast and crew. The writer, Adrian C. Lewis, is also a Native American who believed the story needed to be told.
Don't stop watching at the end of the film. Aftward, the cast and crew get together to talk about their roles in the film and their Native American beliefs. 0ne of the things they mentioned is how difficult the filming was, but the cast and crew burned sage and meditated every day. l think the love and effort every person put into this film clearly shows.
ln addition to this, see:
The Powwow Highway (Contemporary Fiction, Plume)
Rebecca Kyle, July 2OO8
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What can l say?
GREAT M0VlE! l have YET to see a movie with Graham Greene that WASN'T a fantastic film!
