It's a bit on the long end but nonetheless I enjoyed this. The young men who portrayed the players and "The Rock" all gave solid performances.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 12, 2024

A typical, feel-good sports film with nearly every sports cliche' ever captured on film.

| Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Sep 9, 2020

Gridiron Gang probably isn't a film that will appeal to non-sports fans, but it's just good enough to give football fans something to do before the next kickoff.

| Original Score: B | Nov 20, 2019

It's a difficult balancing act between gang life and the sports film where inspiring moments can very easily become maudlin and wearing. Gridiron Gang slips and stumbles a bit in the second half but for the most part makes it across whole.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Mar 22, 2011

Dwayne Johnson pushes his emotionally charged performance so hard that you think he might pop a blood vessel.

| Original Score: C- | Apr 25, 2009

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 20, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 7, 2008

The surprisingly effective Gridiron Gang will find its way into that harshly defended emotional endzone, even if they might not necessarily admit it to their friends.

Full Review | Mar 24, 2007

Despite the occasional mixed message and overwrought moment, Gridiron Gang is a sincere, moving film about a worthwhile subject

| Mar 1, 2007

Watchable, decently made drama with some strong performances, but the script is disappointing given the real-life story behind the film.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 1, 2007

What begins as a series of pleasant revelations and a deft example of genre defiance is nearly crippled by cliche in its second half, but The Rock's surprising dramatic magnetism will hold you until the final whistle.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 29, 2007

It's unfortunate that what was undoubtedly an inspirational story could end up onscreen as such a been-there done-that hack job.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 17, 2007

...the film's various problems [are] exacerbated by a ridiculously overlong running time (it's 125 minutes!)

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jan 10, 2007

It's technically well-made, but lacks the writing or acting skills to make it work.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Gridiron Gang is enjoyable enough, but it is also manipulative, melodramatic and pretty much interchangeable with the recent basketball film Coach Carter.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 9, 2006

The trite script waters down and trivializes its subject matter, almost to the point of negating any emotional impact.

Full Review | Oct 9, 2006

At once uplifting and banal, "based on a true story" and abjectly "Disneyfied," the formula is also -- apparently -- endlessly profitable.

Full Review | Oct 1, 2006

The philosophy espoused in Gridiron Gang places the team above the individual, but the film is carried on the broad shoulders of the charismatic Johnson.

| Original Score: B | Oct 1, 2006

Mostly the movie barrels toward you, stiff-armed.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 23, 2006

If The Rock could clone himself to appear in juvenile halls across the country, the recidivism rate would get body-slammed within a few weeks.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Sep 23, 2006