Gridiron Gang.  The Rock, Xzibit, Vanessa Ferlito, Leon Rippy, Kevin Dunn.  Sony Pictures.  Drama/sports.  Written by Jeff Maguire.  Directed by Phil Joanou.
 
A detention camp probation officer creates a high-school-level football team from a ragtag group of dangerous teenage inmates as a means to teach them self-respect and social responsibility. Of course, our hero must first overcome universal resistance from his skeptical bosses and the coaches at rival high schools who don’t want their players mixing it up with convicted criminals on the football field.

Despite every cliché known to the genre, Gridiron Gang is an engrossing boys-to-men football adventure.  What makes it work? The Rock.  By now we have discovered that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson isn’t just another incredible hulk. He’s a fine actor, sensitive and with a self-effacing sense of humor. Here he is more than believable as the tough but concerned officer/coach/mentor.       

There are positive lessons aimed at young urban males concerning the sanctity of life and the need to break from the abuse that often surrounds them.  (This has been a recurring theme in many films this year.)  The on-field action scores for the intended audience with its constant crunching sounds and slo-mo visuals of assaultive tackles.  And the film’s violence is included to further the story rather than for exploitive purposes.  Alas, one problem: the language. 

It’s difficult to escape its inclusion, as rough language is an element of life for many coming from the hood and evidently nearly every filmmaker.  But filmmakers should remember that it’s simply not artistic for those who consider themselves artists to excessively use obscene language simply because it’s an easy way to express frustration.  And there is no excuse for the coach, the leader of these young men, to be profaning God’s name, which The Rock does throughout.     

If you do not wish to support a film where the lead character misuses both God’s name and Christ’s, then allow me to suggest an alternative: Invincible (still in theaters at the time of this review).  Inspired by the true story of Vince Papale and Dick Vermeil, the new head coach of the Philly Eagles, it’s the best sports film I’ve seen since The Rookie. The football sequences are involving, as are the lead performances.  Invincible’s positive themes include caring and sacrificing for others, and following the impossible dream.

PG-13 (around 30 uses of the s-word, one of the f-word, 3or four of SOB and a few I won’t even mention here; also there is an excessive number of expletives (damns, hells and the like); the N-word is used several times, once by a white guy, but mostly by Blacks; 4 misuses of Christ’s name and 5 uses of God’s name followed by a curse; several shootings, with four characters being gunned down; protecting his abused mother, a teen shoots and kills her boyfriend; there are several fight scenes; though this action is brutal, it’s there to depict the rough world these kids come from; we do see several cheerleaders in revealing costumes; a couple of crude comments as the inmates refer to scantily clad women; there’s a positive portrayal of a Christian.  He’s a coach and when reminded of Christ’s directive to have mercy, he supports the convicted teens).

Reviewed by Phil Boatwright, the Movie Reporter
For other recent reviews by Mr. Boatwright, visit previewonline.org.