"The Rock" rocks in "Gridiron Gang"

By Brent VonCannon
The Collegian

I’ll be honest. When I first learned about the new movie “Gridiron Gang,” my first thought was: 'Oh boy, here we go with another ‘Remember the Titans,’ ‘Glory Road,’ or any other of a countless array of feel-good, against-all-odds, David-over-Goliath sports movies.'

Not that those movies are bad. But hasn’t this same plot been beat on the head a thousand times over?

So I was surprised to find this very physical football thriller to be one of the best movies I’ve seen all year.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as a juvenile detention camp probation officer (Sean Porter) who feels painfully responsible about the fact 75 percent of his inmates end up right back in prison or worse, dead, after being released. So he hatches a plan to build the notions of teamwork and self-worth amongst society’s rejects: he decides to mold his juvenile motley crew into a football team.

Porter and his assistant officer, Malcolm Moore (Xzibit), not only find the time and resources to train their inexperienced and bitter squad into a force to be reckoned with in just several weeks’ time.

Amazingly, they also apparently convince an entire high school football league to allow the inmates to play their teams.

The plot thickens as the team members, some from rival gangs, learn to actually cooperate and work as, well, a team. As they pull together in both victory and defeat, they learn they can indeed become masters of their own destinies.

Director Phil Joanou does a good job at developing the inmates’ various personalities. And an abundance of humor really lightens up the hard situation. Even The Rock softens up as the movie progresses and he makes peace with lingering memories of his own troubled childhood.

In a society unconcerned with the well-being of juvenile criminals, where “lock em’ up” is the cure-all solution and little is done to alleviate the blight of broken families, “Gridiron Gang” dares to take a new look at these social outcasts. Based on a true story, the movie points to a positive and useful way to give these kids a second chance.

In this case, it’s football. But the end results are changed lives and a high success rate in rehabilitation. This inspiration comes on the backdrop of highly entertaining action and barrier-crossing relationships.

The predictable plot and outcome shouldn’t dissuade anyone from going to see this movie.

Even if you believe, like me, that The Rock is a far better wrestler than actor, there’s something to satisfy just about everyone here. And as far as The Rock goes, this is definitely one of his better flicks.

“Gridion Gang,” opens in theaters Sept. 15th.

Grade: A

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