Film: Gridiron Gang

Directed by: Phil Joanou

Written by: Jeff Maguire, Jac Flanders

Year: 2006

Starring: The Rock, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell

Reviewed by: El Pirata Diablo

This one is another feel-good football movie. It’s about a team put together at a juvenile delinquent center, where 75% of those released will be in jail or dead. The football team teaches them discipline, respect, camaraderie, trust and all the other good values these punks need. It’s a last-resort effort to save these teenagers, by giving them hope in a future that had none.

The Rock is the head coach, and Xzibit is the assistant. The Rock does a nice job giving them pep talks and intimidating them. His acting is genuine, and you feel he cares for these troubled kids when no one else does. He also has to deal with the pain of his dying mother, whom the team later rallies around. Xzibit is a lot different than he is on Pimp My Ride, but he only has to do minimal acting.

The best part of the movie is about the two teammates from rival gangs. They are each due a bullet upon release because of the territory they represent. Through football, they realize how stupid their rivalry is, and that their football team is the only gang that matters. The way they bury the hatchet is very well-done.

Most of the movie is predictable. This theme has been overdone by Hollywood. You know that these inner-city kids really have potential deep-down if they have the right mentor. Still, football is the best sport in the world, and watching kids who have nothing achieve always make you feel a little better at the end of the day.

6 damned souls

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