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I know what you’re saying. I said it too: “Hold on. Didn’t Invincible just come out? Do they really expect me to see another football movie?”
Yes. Invincible just came out. But Gridiron Gang makes it worth seeing yet another football movie.
The Rock stars as Sean Porter, a counselor who wants to make a difference in the lives of the kids in the California juvenile detention center where he works. There, 75% percent of the kids will end up back in jail—if they aren’t killed first. The kids are mostly gang members, lacking in discipline, motivation, and self-esteem. They’re losers—and Sean intends to change that. So, with the help of fellow counselor Malcolm (Xzibit), Sean recruits a football team full of kids—and convinces local high schools to take a chance and play them. As the kids learn to play, they learn how to work hard and how to depend on each other—no matter what their gang affiliation.
Gridiron Gang may follow the usual Sports Movie Formula—and you probably can already guess what, for the most part, happens in the end. But this movie does it with style. While it has its share of over-the-top melodrama and a few cheap shots to help spark emotional flares, Gridiron is both riveting and touching. It’ll make you stand up and cheer (like the audience did when I saw it), and it might even make you shed a tear or two. Gridiron gives audiences a little bit of everything. Of course, there’s plenty of football. In fact, there’s so much football that I gained a new appreciation for the sport—and that says a lot, coming from someone who only watches the Superbowl for the commercials and the food. But there’s more to this movie than just football. It also shows a taste of life on the street—and life inside. It makes the characters come to life through snippets of information about their history and their crimes and their relationships with friends and family. The characters in this film are more than just football players—they’re real people.
And while I’m still a little skeptical about The Rock as a serious actor, he just keeps proving himself to me. Sure, I can’t make it through a Rock movie without catching one of his signature facial expressions—or without asking myself, at least once, “Can you smell what The Rock is cookin’?” And I’ll admit that I walked into this one worried that he and Xzibit together would make the movie feel like a bad MTV special. But The Rock pulls it off with plenty of heart and only the slightest bit of overacting—but no more than, say, Tom Cruise. If he keeps it up—and he keeps making movies like this one—I could possibly become a fan.
Invincible may have won the race to theaters, but that doesn’t make it the better football movie. In fact, if you’re trying to choose between the two, choose this one. And be sure to stay for the credits, which feature real video footage of the real Sean Porter and his real-life players. That little bit of reality in the end will make the movie that much more powerful.
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