Friday Night Lights and Varsity Blues were fixated on spreading the gospel of football as religion (where it most definitely is in Texas), Rudy centred on the merits of one special player, The Longest Yard (especially the remake) and The Replacements were mainly interested in giving the funny bone a work out, Remember the Titans had its sights on your heart, and with Any Given Sunday, Oliver Stone told us that football is just as important – if not more so – than life itself.
Though Gridiron Gang
borrows a few elements from each of those films – its got the passé
heart-warming tale of the underdogs doing well, for one – it too has
its own special purpose: in this case, to demonstrate the power of
rehabilitation through the mere discipline associated with playing the
game.
Based on a true story (as retold in the 1993 documentary of the same name), the film sees new-age action hero The Rock (Walking Tall, Welcome to the Jungle)
wear the whistle of real-life hero Sean Porter, a probation officer
charged with the job of rehabilitating “the losers” – kids that have
been sent there for severe crimes, like murder or robbery - of Camp
Kilpatrick. Perplexed and appalled by the alarmingly rate of recidivism
(as high as 75 percent) among his troubled young charges, Porter and
his colleague Malcolm Moore (a subdued and very effective Xzibit) come
up with a plan: start a football team. Through that, they’ll learn
about the importance of a team, regain some dignity and feel like they
do have something left to show the world.
With Gridiron Gang,
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson gets to prove he’s more than just, well, the
next Schwarzenegger or Stallone – which most have pegged him up till
now – and show us he’s actually got what it takes to break out of that
action-hero box. His performance in this film is gold – almost Denzel
Washington gold. It’s a multi-layered turn that pushes the film to much
better heights than what it might’ve been with someone we couldn’t
relate to, or didn’t care as much about. The guy is just so likeable.
And there are a few scenes here, which he’ll truly steal your heart in.
This is undeniably The Rock’s best film to date.
The film does
get a little cheesy and corny – but which football film, doesn’t it? –
but the real-life story that’s being told is still very engaging, Phil
Joanou’s direction is slick and effective, and The Rock is like a darn
magnet – drawing your eyes back to the screen, even when they’re about
to look elsewhere.
It goes without saying that Gridiron Gang kicks more goals than it misses them.
EXTRASCommentary, Deleted scenes and featurettes on the DVD. Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 60% 
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