L-R: Dwayne Johnson, Xzibit, Juvies Pictured above: Recent box office success Gridiron Gang. So, what’s it about?
Short version:
All is not well in the prison industrial complex. Urban youth have lost heart--lost hope.
Enter Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose exit from a career of glorified human cock fighting has provided America a new moral compass. Give these kids a chance, he thinks, and they’ll fly right. . .but how?
The Answer: Football.
Different guys from different sides of the wrong side of the tracks need something to agree on. Since touchdowns are one-part unity and two-parts hand-eye coordination, success on this field means conflict resolution. But no single man can achieve this alone.* Straight from the bench: rapper-turned-show host-turned-blactor Xzibit, a second in command who’ll make damn sure those boys earn 'dem spinning bus rims. Throw in administration that "just doesn't get it", a love interest and hip-hop and we’ve got ourselves another underdog classic, Johnson.
Thank god there are B/C-listers around willing to teach urban youth** to dance and/or play football.
*exception made for Antonio Banderas, whose recipie for tough love and salsa saved similarly troubled youths in '06 hit Take the Lead.
**n-word, plural
The Answer: Football.
Different guys from different sides of the wrong side of the tracks need something to agree on. Since touchdowns are one-part unity and two-parts hand-eye coordination, success on this field means conflict resolution. But no single man can achieve this alone.* Straight from the bench: rapper-turned-show host-turned-blactor Xzibit, a second in command who’ll make damn sure those boys earn 'dem spinning bus rims. Throw in administration that "just doesn't get it", a love interest and hip-hop and we’ve got ourselves another underdog classic, Johnson.
Thank god there are B/C-listers around willing to teach urban youth** to dance and/or play football.
*exception made for Antonio Banderas, whose recipie for tough love and salsa saved similarly troubled youths in '06 hit Take the Lead.
**n-word, plural
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