“When you woke up this morning, did you say to yourself 'Today, I'm gonna talk.' or 'Today, I'm gonna subscribe to The 90-Minute Movie?” Well, if it’s the latter, I got a button for you:
Get ready for a wave of nostalgia, brah, because this week I’m covering the third Disney Channel Original Movie ever made - Brink! (1998, 99 minutes). Lovingly referred to as DCOMs on the internet, these made-for-TV movies have had a surge of popularity thanks to their accessibility via Disney streaming. Once upon a time you had to throw the TV on and hope for the best (or maybe even check the TV Guide?) but now, anytime is the right time for a DCOM.
Brink! is about the fabulous world of Southern California inline skating as told through the eyes of high schooler Andy “Brink” Brinker (Erik Von Detten) and his three best friends. Brink and his friends are “soul skaters” (which, they won’t let you forget as it's mentioned 9 times in the script) meaning they skate only for fun and not for money. This is in stark contrast to their arch nemeses Team X-Bladz, led by Val (Sam Horrigan). However, life will test Brink’s dedication to soul skating when financial trouble at home tempts him to sellout in order to help his family.
Brink! has the kind of anti-capitalist messaging that only a movie produced by a multi-billion dollar entertainment conglomerate can have. It asks the question, why get paid to do what you love when you can do it for free? As a millennial writing a free newsletter I have to wonder if this movie destroyed something important in my brain. For a long time I thought making money from what I love would ruin it, but then I realized that a life where I write in the time between working a desk job isn’t any better. I’ll let you be the judge, but for Brink and his friends, they are certified soul skaters and that is the basis for all of their decisions.
This makes Brink deliriously happy with his life. He’s so cheery that his dad is pissed off about it:
Which is convenient because his dad is ultimately going to be the catalyst of Brink’s not-so-bright idea. We learn that the Brinker’s are struggling financially. Mr. Brinker has been out of work after a job site injury and apparently Mrs. Brinker isn’t super great at selling houses. Brink overhears this and decides he’s gotta take family matters into his own hands, which means trying out for the corporate-sponsored X-Bladz (which I pronounce only as “Ex Blah-ds” by the way, I can’t get over this spelling).
The way things unravel for Brink has me wondering if he isn’t secretly the villain. You’re telling me the fact that Boomer (Walter Jones) mysteriously gets hurt during the illegal high school race leaving an empty spot on X-Bladz open, and that this is the race that also simultaneously gets Brink into a lot of trouble at home so it’s not really that weird when he starts missing skate practice with the soul skaters to practice with X-Bladz, and that Gabriela (Christina Vidal) gets hurt practicing on the downhill course so Brink needs to be the one to compete in the championship… Are ALL coincidences?! Sounds like an evil mastermind at work to me.
And in fact, our soul skating friends (led by Brink Brinker himself) had some pretty brutal pranks for Val. After getting snubbed by the ultra cool In.Line Skater Magazine photographer in favor of trendy team X-Bladz, Brink sends over a bunch of grown men (skateboarders) over to kick their asses. Later they fill Val’s sandwich with earthworms and he actually eats it. They even go so far as to pressure him into not telling an adult with their custom “Don’t be a wuss” signs. Nice. Of course, Val will eventually become a true villain by trying to cheat on the downhill course and almost killing Gabriela. But honestly, how far can you push one man before he breaks. I mean… EARTHWORMS?!
In fairness, these kids all seem to have pretty difficult home lives for one reason or another. Brink’s dad isn’t working, Jordy’s (Asher Gold) family seems to have communication issues, Peter’s (Patrick Levis) stepdad has rage issues, and Gabriela… has a single mom. Which, I guess we’re supposed to guess means she also has no money because later when Brink is trying to explain he had to sell his soul to the almighty X-Bladz, she has her great anti-capitalist monologue:
GABRIELLA:
We all need the money Brink. What does that have to do with it? That’s how it starts you know? First, you do something that you really love. And then you start doing it for the money. And before you know it, you’re just another sell-out.
The theme here, in case you didn’t catch it, is selling-out = bad. Even Brink’s dad aka Ralph “confusing-moral-ground” Brinker doesn’t like the idea of Brink skating for money. He hates it so much that he gets Brink a job at the local dog grooming spot, Pup n’ Suds. This leads to a montage of Brink working so hard (too hard) to honor all of his commitments. School, the pups (and the suds), X-Bladz practice, soul skating practice, and homework. The kid is tired but no one really seems to notice or care, which is fine because he brought this upon himself. He later admits to his dad in a strange garage heart-to-heart (where else better to have a father/son moment) that joining X-Bladz wasn’t just about the money (GASP) but he wanted fame too. Tsk. Tsk.
In the end, Brink’s friends take him back into the fold. It’s unclear if this is because he buys them the ultimate gear - Team Pup n’ Suds t-shirts - or because he dumps a chocolate shake in Val’s face, or because he simply apologized, but they do take him back and they go on to win the A.A.I.L.S (say that 5 times fast) championship. Brink! creates its own little world where In.Line Skater Magazine photographers wear branded merch and follow high school students around, kids can make $200 a week (in 1998!) for wearing branded merch, and all the world’s best contests happen to be in their own backyard. (The backyard is LA… but still). And whether it was accurate or just what some middle-aged screenwriter thought skater life was like, it introduced kids across the country to it. And we were thankful.
I would be wrong to not mention one final point of Brink! which was the hair. Not only did this DCOM bring us more of Erik Von Detten and his greasy, floppy top (which melted the hearts of youths everywhere for most of the 90s) but also Sam Horrigan’s villainous, floppy top, and poor Walter Jones’ infamous hairline that went viral on the internet recently.
I got into some trouble on TikTok for not picking Halloweentown 2 over Miracle in Lane 2 in a DCOM bracket showdown. It doesn’t matter that I voted for Zenon to win it or that I wasn’t afford the opportunity to even vote for Brink! The people were still upset. So I ask you, whether you’ve done this TikTok bracket filter or not, what are your Top 3 DCOMs of all time? Comment and let’s talk about it! (Or beef about it, brah.)
Are we gonna talk about the fact that the bad guy in this was Spike from The Little Giants?
In a recent mailbag for our newsletter we were asked our favorite DCOM, and I picked Brink! https://doyoulikeapples.substack.com/p/dyla-reader-mailbag-2
I'd say Motocrossed and Alley Cats Strike round out my top 3.