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James Lee · 09-20-2006, 11:18 PM

I saw it today and thought it was excellent. Sure, the story was cliche at times, but the performances by The Rock and the young actors really propelled this movie beyond total corniness. For me, the performance by The Rock was well worth the price of admission alone. I'm a fan of him even from his WWF days and I thought he was good as an action hero. Gridiron Gang was a real jump in acting ability for him and he really shined. So much so that I hope he gets some consideration for an Oscar. I thought he was that good. The cinematography and editing of the football scenes were really well done but still looked realistic and not over the top like some other football movies. The musical score was good during the football scenes but overall was almost too overbearing.

As mentioned previously, the lives of the kids were not sugarcoated. It felt more or less real in terms of the endless cycle of gang violence and poverty. I like the fact that at the end, The Rock did a voiceover narration of what happened with each kid after the football season, several of which did not end up with a happy ending, but most did turn their lives around to break the cycle of violence. Also, it was important to stay during the end credits as they showed scenes from a documentary about the real coach and the real kids. I was surprised that a lot of the important dialogue in many scenes were repeated almost verbatim from the real coach and kids as shown in the documentary. At the end you realize that a lot of the movie is very accurate to the real people and events. I hope that with the eventual DVD release, it will include the documentary.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed Gridiron Gang and I really, really liked The Rock in the movie. I give it a 9 out of 10 as well.

09-20-2006, 11:18 PM	#6 of 11
James Lee Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Local Time: 07:01 PM Local Date: 12-01-2008 Posts: 116	Re: Gridiron Gang - quick review I saw it today and thought it was excellent. Sure, the story was cliche at times, but the performances by The Rock and the young actors really propelled this movie beyond total corniness. For me, the performance by The Rock was well worth the price of admission alone. I'm a fan of him even from his WWF days and I thought he was good as an action hero. Gridiron Gang was a real jump in acting ability for him and he really shined. So much so that I hope he gets some consideration for an Oscar. I thought he was that good. The cinematography and editing of the football scenes were really well done but still looked realistic and not over the top like some other football movies. The musical score was good during the football scenes but overall was almost too overbearing. As mentioned previously, the lives of the kids were not sugarcoated. It felt more or less real in terms of the endless cycle of gang violence and poverty. I like the fact that at the end, The Rock did a voiceover narration of what happened with each kid after the football season, several of which did not end up with a happy ending, but most did turn their lives around to break the cycle of violence. Also, it was important to stay during the end credits as they showed scenes from a documentary about the real coach and the real kids. I was surprised that a lot of the important dialogue in many scenes were repeated almost verbatim from the real coach and kids as shown in the documentary. At the end you realize that a lot of the movie is very accurate to the real people and events. I hope that with the eventual DVD release, it will include the documentary. Anyhow, I really enjoyed Gridiron Gang and I really, really liked The Rock in the movie. I give it a 9 out of 10 as well.