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At some point in his career every leading man in Hollywood is required to shoot an inspirational sports flick. It's just one of those boxes you have to tick, like attending the Oscars and adopting a Cambodian baby. This week, The Rock takes his turn. Gridiron Gang combines basic social commentary with the traditional sports tale of a coach working wonders with unpromising material - Rock's recruits are gangbangers imprisoned in a young offender's institution. Suprisingly enough, it's pretty good.
As a former pro wrestler, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has more acting experience than many of his drama-school trained peers, and this kind of macho role is perfect for his well-scrubbed charisma. Rock plays Sean Porter, a real-life detention centre counsellor who transformed his violent, frustrated offenders into a respectable American football team. By breaking their gang allegiances, he vastly increased their chances of survival in the outside world. In movie terms, this means a skipful of elevated guff about teamwork and being yourself, combined with endless slow-mo shots of beefy youngsters bashing into each other, complete with crunches as loud as atomic blasts.
"UNEXPECTEDLY POIGNANT"
Effectively, the film is one long training montage, but Rock sells the schmaltz with an impressively straight face and the kids - especially Jade Yorker as the team's star player Willie Weathers and Setu Taase as the reluctant Junior - are first rate. A knowledge of the finer points of American football is required to fully enjoy the story, and you'll need a tin ear to fend off the full horror of Trevor Rabin's syrupy score. Over the credits, director Phil Joanou allows us a glimpse at the real people behind the movie, making for an unexpectedly poignant finale.
The Gridiron Gang is released in UK cinemas on Friday 2nd February 2007.
