Zen Garden > Gridiron Gang - Starring WWE's "The Rock" - a Movie Review

As a HUGE fan of wrestling I was interested to see how Dwayne Johnson, more famously known to his legion of fans around the world as "THE ROCK," would perform. His character in this movie - "The Gridiron Gang" - was that of Sean Porter, the coach of a criminal gang of misfits. Read about the movie and the performance of The Rock here...

Basically, the Gridiron Gang is about a correctional center and how one of its supervisors comes up with the idea of teaching a bunch of no-hoper criminals how to learn some self-esteem values by forming a gridiron team. Highly original, huh?

Pretty much if you have seen "The Mighty Ducks" then all you have to do is substitute ice hockey with gridiron and you will know this story inside-out.

As a huge fan of wrestling I was interested to see how Dwayne Johnson aka Rocky Maivia or more famously known as "The Rock" would perform. His character in this movie was that of Sean Porter, the coach of the misfits.

There is a lot of gang violence in the film in the form of walk-up and drive-by shootings. Bad attitudes are everywhere UNTIL opposing gang members bond to form a high-powered, all-conquering gridiron team. Yeah! Sorry, that was just me trying to get enthusiastic.

Reputedly, "The Rock" used to earn around $1 million per year as the self professed "most electrifying man in sports entertainment" at the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) sideshow. He now commands between $5 to $15 million per film. So, his wrestling days are now well and truly behind him.

Undoubtedly, Johnson's acting skills honed in the WWE have acted as a launch pad for his silver screen acting. In my opinion, his WWE performances were FAR more entertaining than his more serious on-screen efforts, especially this one!

Every time I watch Johnson I expect him to "lay the smackdown" on some poor sap, or launch into some meaningless yet highly amusing diatribe like he did on the WWE, all ending with: "If ya smell... what the Rock... is cookin." (If you have never seen the WWE you will have NO idea what any of that meant!)

The Gridiron Gang is very droll indeed. If the Rock hadn't have been in it I would have left early. Yes, it IS that bad. Horrible, in fact. But just BECAUSE the Rock IS in it I give it a 2 out of 10. Without the Rock... hmm, probably a big, fat ZERO.

On a serious note, the Rock (Johnson) is a great talent but somebody, either he or his manager, needs to find FAR MORE worthy scripts for him. Stories like the Gridiron Gang are complete duds. He deserves MUCH better. If ya smell what I'm cookin!"

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books covering a diverse range of subjects such as self esteem, affirmations, self defense, finance and much more. His articles appear all over the web. Gary's email address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & Self Esteem for Success website where you can receive his "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an immediate FREE copy of his highly acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."

Gary Simpson is a 7th Dan karate master who teaches self defense, motivation, self help and wealth building to students around the world through home study courses. You may reprint this article as you include this author credit and an active link to his web site. Finance - Self Help - Motivation - Self Defense - Personal Growth MotivationSelfEsteem.com