Review of Gridiron Gang (2006) by Mickey M — 27 Jul 2008

"Sean Porter" (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) is a councilor of a Los Angeles juvenile detention center. He, and fellow councelor "Malcom Moore (Xzibit), are tired of seeing kids leaving -- then returning to the detention center.

One day, "Porter" drives by a High School football game, and gets an idea -- to start a football program at the detention center.

"Porter" has the typical problems -- including reluctance from his superior, to attitude problems with the kids who have given up. Then there are the successes, some of which are the result of teaching the juveniles the game he was once a star of.

Johnson, which I am not use to calling him since I am a pro wrestling fan of over 20-years, is perfect in the role of "Porter". You could actually feel that he felt for the kids in a way they should be getting at home. You also got a taste of Johnson's famous alter-ego "The Rock" in the scenes where he was pumping up the juveniles, or at least he used what he learned in wrestling to pump up the audiences he use to perform in front of for those scenes. If Johnson doesn't get an award for this role, I will be quite surprised.

There are some very good performances from the young men who play the prisoners. There are a few which stand out more than others. One of those will really stand out near the end of the movie. Another almost steals scenes, but that is because of the character's personality -- and you won't believe this character is in the detention center.

There are good performances with "Porter's" superiors and assistant coach (Xzibit). However, these characters are not well developed, especially Xzibit's. Another problem with this film is that there are certain subplots which are touched on, but not explored, nor are they explained well enough.

Despite the minor development problems, they are forgotten thanks to the strong performances from the cast -- especially Johnson. It is the performances in this movie that is a very good reason to see this movie. I haven't seen a movie with strong performances like in this film for some time now.

Another reason to see this movie is the action on the gridiron itself. The games are shot mainly on field level, and are edited together quite nicely. The cameras zoom in good enough to make it feel as if you are on the field with the teams.

One thing you must do is sit through about half of the closing credits. During this time in the movie, they show clips from the documentary which introduced the world to the real Sean Porter, including scenes which were recreated in the movie.

In my opinion, this movie will be a "Must Rent" when it comes to DVD. It has a positive message that is needed more than ever today.