I once again went to see a movie about football even though I really don’t like the sport. For some reason, I have liked a lot of movies about football or other sports despite the fact that I’m not a fan of sports. Gridiron Gang is the second football movie released in the last few months that was based on a true story.

Sean Porter and Malcolm Moore were counselors at a juvenile detention center in the Los Angeles area. The two men were getting frustrated by the fact that the majority of the teenagers in the center ended up back in gangs as soon as they got out, eventually ending up in prison or dead. Sean got the idea to develop a football program to teach the boys discipline and teamwork and try to break the hold the gangs had on the boys. Sean and Malcolm worked with the boys and started to see behavior changes, including members of rival gangs actually getting along instead of fighting all the time.

Gridiron Gang was based on the true story of Sean Porter and the football program he developed at Camp Kilpatrick, a juvenile detention center. In 1993, a documentary, also called Gridiron Gang, was made for television about Porter and the program. When the movie was over, some clips from the documentary were shown as the credits started. Some of those scenes had been included in the movie. There were short clips of interviews with some of the actual members of the team that had been featured as characters in the movie. Near the end of the movie, there was a voice over that shared what happened to some of the boys once they left Camp Kilpatrick. A few did end up back in prison, but the majority of them managed to make new lives for themselves away from the gangs. That really helped to illustrate how much Porter was able to help the boys with the program.

Football played a very important part in Gridiron Gang. I expected that before seeing the movie, so I wasn’t surprised. Sean started the football program fairly early in the movie. Several scenes dealt with the practices, showing how the members of the team started developing their abilities. Sean gave several inspirational talks to the boys during the movie. A decent amount of the first game that the team played was shown. After that, more practices were shown and then only short segments of a few of the other games. Enough of the games and practices were shown to illustrate how the boys changed as a result of being on the team. Not only were they getting along with each other, but they were learning discipline and realizing that they didn’t have to return to gangs once they got out. They learned that they could turn their lives around and avoid prison or early death.

There were a few violent scenes in Gridiron Gang. Some of the boys got into fights with each other at Camp Kilpatrick. Most of the time it was because the boys had been in rival gangs before being sent there and they considered each other enemies just for that reason even though they hadn’t known each other before. The fights that took place at Camp Kilpatrick didn’t last that long and really weren’t that violent. Early in the movie, the events that led up to one of the boys being sent to Camp Kilpatrick were shared. That section was more violent than most of the rest of the movie. Late in the movie, another example of gang violence was shared. None of the violence was graphic, but a few things shown were a bit upsetting. Several of the characters, including some of the boys, used curse words throughout the movie. The swearing really wasn’t excessive, though it might be too much for some people. The word that rhymes with luck was used one time. The violence and swearing got the movie a PG-13 rating. This really isn’t a movie for children.

A small amount of humor was added into a few scenes of Gridiron Gang. That helped to lighten the mood without turning the movie into a comedy. This was a more serious movie overall, dealing with what can be a touchy subject for some. Some people may not want to see the movie since it did feature young men who had committed crimes, some very violent. The movie was mainly focused in on the program Sean started and how it changed the boys that participated in it. There was a small sub plot included that dealt with Sean’s mother and the illness she was battling. It was never said what was wrong with her. Sean took time out to take her to the hospital or go visit her at different times. That sub plot wasn’t as important to what was going on, but I thought it did help to more fully shown the type of man Sean was. His mother was very important to him, and she had instilled values in him and raised him to be the man he was. For the most part, the transitions between the main plot and the scenes with Sean and his mother worked well. There were a few parts that did seem to move too slow, making the pace a bit uneven.

Sean was trying to make a difference in the lives of the boys he worked with at Camp Kilpatrick. He, and another counselor Malcolm, were tired of not being able to get through to the boys and finding out later that they went back to the gangs or ended up dead. Sean cared about the boys he was working with and wanted to make a difference. I liked Dwayne Johnson in the part. He may best be known as the wrestler The Rock. He made his first appearance in The Mummy Returns in a small part, and has gone on to make other movies. I have enjoyed his movies. There is just something about Johnson that makes him entertaining to watch. He has charisma. I really enjoyed the part he played in Be Cool. This was probably his most serious part. He even got emotional in a few scenes and I thought he was completely believable in those scenes. Xzibit was fine as Malcolm, though he didn’t get much to do. His part was a little bigger than the one he played in Derailed. He also did a voice in the animated movie Hoodwinked.

The boys on the team were shown throughout the movie without receiving that much development. For a lot of the boys, it really wasn’t said why they were in Camp Kilpatrick to begin with. Willie Weathers was probably the most developed of the boys, partly because the movie showed what he had done to get up in Camp Kilpatrick. There was also a little bit shown of the relationship he had with his girlfriend Danyelle. Junior Palaita was developed slightly more than some of the other players. Paul Higa and Ted Dexter were two men who worked at Camp Kilpatrick who weren’t overly supportive of Sean’s team.

Main Cast

Kevin Dunn - Ted Dexter
James Earl - Donald Madlock
Dwayne Johnson - Sean Porter
Trevor O’Brien - Kenny Bates
Leon Rippy - Paul Higa
Brandon Smith - Bug Wendal
Jurnee Smollett - Danyelle
Setu Taase - Junior Palaita
Xzibit - Malcolm Moore
Jade Yorker - Willie Weathers

Phil Joanou - Director

Gridiron Gang was an entertaining, inspirational football movie. I really enjoyed it even though it did have a few problems. There were some cliches in the movie, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining. People that like movies about football or who like Dwayne Johnson may also like this movie.


Recommended: Yes