Gridiron Gang

This was a good movie. It is based on a true story about a man named Sean Porter a real live coach for juveniles played by the "THE ROCK." He wants to coach some 16 and 17 year old juvenile delinquents in a detention facility in hopes of making them change their violent and criminal ways. He wants to teach them team work and to take their minds off gangs and to also learn respect. Since a lot of juveniles return back to their gangs or prison again or end up dead. This movie does send a good message to the youth who are incarcerated. That they can become better people if they are given a second chance. The acting done by "THE ROCK" and "XZBIT" were realistic and inspiring. (8/10).

Gridiron Gang is based on a true story about a juvi detention center that starts a football program to help troubled kids. There's really nothing new here, idle hands are the devil's work. Kids in trouble simply don't have anything to focus on. The story is about an administrator that takes a chance on a coach who almost wrecks the program, but pulls it out with the help of the kids. This is one of those quintessential feel good films about overcoming the odds and succeeding. Some good acting and good directing with the help if some way too tight camera shots help make the film look more realistic. A class A film to make you fell good about the system.

For an L.A. native, disgusted with what has happened to a very influential and potentially great city, knowing that there are attempts to show alternate ways of life to the gang-riddled youth is in itself hopeful. The film may seem formula-like, however it presents a true story in the trappings of such formula without the often seriously candy-coated drippings of maudlin ways. There are good performances here, and including but not limited to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who comes close to but never totally dominates what is an ensemble of future stars. This is not only a youths-gone-bad movie and sports as panacea film but a look at how, on occasion, the right intentions can override the wrong pursuits.

Well, who would have thought that a professional wrestler would become an actor... not just a star, but a real, true to life 'ACTOR'! Dwayne Johnson has done this and he's seamless with his portrayal of Sean Porter to the letter!

The end of the movie shows several scenes of a documentary where the real Sean Porter is saying the lines that Johnson was speaking in the movie. The Rock makes those lines seem like his own and I bought into every moment of it!

Some characters were from actual kids that were in the L.A. juvie detention center and others were obvious blended characters. Two of the main characters were adversaries at the beginning and they become close... very close friends. This scenario probably has happened in real life, but they are fictionalized blends of probably many. The producers even made the numbers on their jerseys the same, but opposite. One was 13, the other 31... in other words, we are the same, just the sequence is different. I don't know if anyone else caught that, but I found it effective.

Overall, a very good movie with solid acting and a good script with a good ending! I recommend it, but the language is rough. No sugar coating the violence either. Not for kids, not even if the parents are sitting right next to them!

It seems like the past few years have seen a run on sports films that demonstrate the power of learning sportsmanship on a team level can alter the lives of the misbegotten youths suffering from the angst of society's perceptions. We've been through soccer, baseball, tennis, dance, track and football: GRIDIRON GANG uses football as the pivotal point, but due to the presence of a fine script by Jeff Maguire who adapted Jac Flanders documentary film, and cohesive poignant direction by Phil Joanou who knows how to move a large cast around and keep it personal, and most of all due to the overpoweringly fine performance by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson this film is so honest and uplifting that it doesn't leave a dry eye in the audience.

The story is well known: Probation Officer Sean Porter (Johnson) is frustrated that the boys in his camp for young criminals when released to the streets show 75% returning and a large number dying in gang related violence. He sees this trend as being due to the lack of self-esteem in kids whose lives outside are demeaning and encourage failure. He gathers support from his fellow workers Malcolm Moore (Xzibit), Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and Ted Dexter (Kevin Dunn) and gradually builds confidence in his project to organize a football team of his inmates. We wisely get to know the background of a few of the more difficult incarcerated boys, a fact that makes the project more full of tension and understanding of the problems to be resolved. Though most of the cast are unknowns, they are fine actors in this film: Jade Yorker, David V. Thomas, Setu Taase, Mo, James Earl, Trever O'Brien, Brandon Mychal Smith, Danny Martinez, Joe Seo, and Joey Lucero.

Through the team's growth as a unit they confront and manage to cope with problems and grow into goal-driven, good spirited young men. The presence of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is stunningly underplayed and all the more powerful for it. This is a sensitive performance that places Johnson in an all new category of respect as an actor. The film is overly long (120 minutes) due to repeated games the team plays and for devotees of Football that will be a positive aspect. But far more important than the games is the quiet growing of trust and faith that shows in the faces of this fine cast. Recommended viewing, especially for those who think they have seen too many sports related do-good films! Grady Harp