Monday, November 12, 2007

Movie Review: Gridiron Gang

So, last post I told you about a bunch of stuff I need to write about. Good point. But I saw most of Gridiron Gang starring Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and Xzibit this evening, and that is what matters most now.

First of all, the movie is about two-and-a-half hours long. I came in at about the 45 minute mark and I was honestly shocked that there were over 100 minutes left in the movie. I thought it was the end of the movie, but it wasn't. And I am glad it wasn't.

When I saw previews for this movie, I thought it was ridiculous. The Rock is and always will be a comedian, so how could he handle a dramatic role? Also, the premise of the movie is that a bunch of kids in a juvenile detention facility defy the odds and are great at football. Well, duh. These kids are deemed so violent and dangerous to society that they are locked up behind walls and gates with guards all around them. Just so they won't hurt anybody. If they are not locked up, they will just hurt people and kill people. I wonder if they will be good at a game where your only goal is to hit people so hard they get concussions and die.

Or so I thought. In fact, these kids come from troubled backgrounds and are wrapped up in gangs and even the Rock has a few troubling skeletons in his closet. Long story short, I was close to tears for an hour-and-a-half. It might have been because there was a slow, tremulous trumpet playing with my heartstrings for the entire movie, or it may have been because this old, jaded cynic isn't made entirely...of stone.

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