Gridiron Gang

[KLAXXON]

“Everybody listen up. The Gridiron is a football field. On the Gridiron, we do it my way, not your way. Your way got you here. Whatever gang you claim, whatever hood you're from, this is your hood now.”

Everyone’s favourite former wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson flexes his acting muscles for a change in this ‘inspirational’ film based on a real life story.

Let’s be completely honest, this genre of sports movie has been done to death! I mean take the ‘let’s learn football in prison’ theme, we’ve already had Mean Machine and The Longest Yard (to name just two); and as for the ‘kids from a rough neighbourhood learning to get along by playing together’ theme, we’ve already had Remember The Titans, Coach Carter and The Mighty Ducks. These coming of age / working together themes are staples of every Hollywood box office season, returning each year without fail.

Don’t get me wrong, all of these films are very watchable… however quite often, the filmmakers are simply painting by numbers… working on the basis that as long as you get all the colours in the right place, and you have a notable star, the film will become a hit.

However with Gridiron Gang, rather than follow this rather familiar formula, director Phil Joanou (Final Analysis) has decided to maintain the gritty realism of the original story, the film starts with a drive by shooting and keeps the swearing, language and violence of the street intact. This distinguishes this from the average family underdog sports tale.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as Sean Porter, a dedicated social worker at a juvenile detention centre who is sick and tired of witnessing 75% of the kids in his care without hope and re-offending upon their release. He puts this down to low self esteem and a lack of team spirit… something that he is determined to put right.

To that end, Porter recruits the very worst and most withdrawn offenders to play football (BTW - that’s American football / rugby with helmets); he builds a team to take on other teams from around the state. Leading them into a full season of games and only weeks before their first game, Porter has to get the inmates to disregard their gang rivalries, racial boundaries and mutual loathing to come together and better themselves by playing football.

I have to admit I was very sceptical coming into this film – I put this down as just another of ‘those’ sports movies. The only selling point was that it starred Dwayne The Rock Johnson – a man who shows enormous potential as an actor but has never really been given the opportunity to hit his stride. I’m pleased to say however, that it is in this movie that he comes very close in doing so – putting in an impassioned performance that is enough to win over even the most sceptical of viewers.

Playing a real life person; Johnson is brilliant as portraying his character as a human being first and as a coach second. This avoids him being stuck in the archetypal coach stereotype so associated with this type of film and distinguishes this from other sports movies of its type. It is probably the best performance of Johnson’s short acting career and a massive step forward for him as a character actor.

All in all, a fresh and quite original take on an established formula, director Phil Joanou and Dwayne Johnson have done a terrific job at bringing out all the potential in this movie. While in part, the film follows the standard sports underdog formula, it often breaks away from this in a whole new violent direction which furthers the plot and to keeps the viewer guessing about what will happen at the end. This is unusual for films of this type and does much to make Gridiron Gang, a much more fulfilling experience.

So, even if you’ve had your fill of other recent underdog movies like Rocky Balboa and the other movies mentioned above, this is still worth watching just for Dwayne Johnson’s remarkable performance

In GRIDIRON GANG juvenile detention center counselor Sean Porter (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) notices that many of the boys he and his co-workers are supposed to be rehabilitating return with fresh sentences or end up killed. The teenagers are full of anger but have no productive way of releasing their energy. A former college pigskin star whose career was cut short by injury, Sean decides that football might be a positive way to channel their pent-up aggression, build teamwork, and cross the gang lines that extend into the center.

The philosophy espoused in GRIDIRON GANG places the team above the individual, but the film is carried on the broad shoulders of the charismatic Johnson. The actor, best known from his days as a pro wrestler, has almost always been the best thing about his films, even the lousy ones. His imposing figure and megawatt smile allow him to be at home doing action and comedy, and on screen he comes across as eminently likable.

GRIDIRON GANG is a transitional movie for the star. Johnson exercises traditional dramatic chops as the inspirational coach who has the best interests of the wayward kids at heart. He’s completely convincing as someone smooth enough to finesse the administrators who initially balk at the idea and tough enough to make the juvenile delinquents listen and respect him. The end credits show snippets of a documentary about the coach on whom Johnson’s character is based. It’s astonishing how much Johnson resembles him in personality and physical presence. If there was still any doubt, Johnson should no longer have to fight his wrestling past to be taken seriously as an actor.

As for the football action and motivational storyline, GRIDIRON GANG hits the standard beats with a light touch. The outcome-driven sports movie requirements are balanced with the emotional arcs of the counselors and the players. The gridiron play is fast and hard-hitting but not so overblown that it seems like a miracle anyone can walk away unharmed. The players’ troubled backgrounds aren’t soft sold or overdramatized. A minor fault is the impression that Sean works at the center 24 hours a day except when he’s visiting his sick mother. He’s not made out to be a saint, but with his work load it wouldn’t hurt to be one.

GRIDIRON GANG is a hybrid of familiar football movies and teacher-as-savior films. The conventions don’t limit the film but pave the way for a highly satisfying view.

The Rock plays a counsellor at a detention centre who forms his charges into an American football team. They go on to considerable success, learning self-respect and self-confidence along the way.


The track record for wrestlers-turned-actors ain’t great; Hulk Hogan, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and, faring slightly better, the late Andre The Giant. Pleasant surprise, then, that The Rock, only ever expected to aim for Arnie’s action crown, makes a very decent fist of ‘proper acting’.

For the first half of this true story (inspirational coach Sean Porter turns LA juvenile detention kids into a football team), director Phil Joanou avoids the usual banalities. But in the home stretch, the star’s huge shoulders have to bear the burden of every sports-movie cliché in the book. Happily, the conviction of his performance just about carries everyone over the line.


What begins as a series of pleasant revelations and a deft example of genre defiance is nearly crippled by cliche in its second half, but The Rock's surprising dramatic magnetism will hold you until the final whistle.


Dwayne Johnson ... Sean Porter (as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson)
Xzibit ... Malcolm Moore
L. Scott Caldwell ... Bobbi Porter
Leon Rippy ... Paul Higa
Kevin Dunn ... Ted Dexter
Jade Yorker ... Willie Weathers
David V. Thomas ... Kelvin Owens (as David Thomas)
Setu Taase ... Junior Palaita
Mo ... Leon Hayes
James Earl ... Donald Madlock (as James Earl III)
Trever O'Brien ... Kenny Bates
Brandon Smith ... Bug Wendal (as Brandon Mychal Smith)
Jurnee Smollett ... Danyelle Rollins
Michael J. Pagan ... Roger Weathers
Jamal Mixon ... Jamal Evans



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