Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together.Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together.Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together.
Dwayne Johnson
- Sean Porter
- (as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson)
Jade Scott Yorker
- Willie Weathers
- (as Jade Yorker)
David V. Thomas
- Kelvin Owens
- (as David Thomas)
Mo McRae
- Leon Hayes
- (as Mo)
James Earl
- Donald Madlock
- (as James Earl III)
Danny Socorro Martinez
- Miguel Perez
- (as Danny Martinez)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSadly, after 20 years at Camp Kilpatrick, the stellar football program featured in the film was sidelined in 2014 pending the outcome of a study on the long term benefits thereof; despite helping to send multiple former Mustang players to college.
- GoofsThe events were supposed to have taken place in 1993. You can see the teams wearing Under Armour gear but UA wasn't made public until 1995-1996 and it was sold to the Georgia Institute of Technology (or Georgia Tech).
- Quotes
Malcolm Moore: Man, that kid's always smiling!
[laughing at Bugs]
Sean Porter: Yeah... but I wonder if he was laughing when he stabbed that old lady for her purse?
- Crazy creditsScenes are shown from the 1992 documentary "Gridiron Gang" which inspired this film.
- SoundtracksCelebration
Written by Robert 'Kool' Bell (as Robert Bell), Ronald Bell, George 'Funky' Brown (as George Brown), Eumir Deodato, Robert 'Spike' Mickens (as Robert Mickens), Claydes Smith, James 'JT' Taylor (as James Taylor), Dennis D.T. Thomas (as Dennis Thomas) and Earl Toon (as Earl Toon, Jr.)
Featured review
It seems like the past few years have seen a run on sports films that demonstrate the power of learning sportsmanship on a team level can alter the lives of the misbegotten youths suffering from the angst of society's perceptions. We've been through soccer, baseball, tennis, dance, track and football: GRIDIRON GANG uses football as the pivotal point, but due to the presence of a fine script by Jeff Maguire who adapted Jac Flanders documentary film, and cohesive poignant direction by Phil Joanou who knows how to move a large cast around and keep it personal, and most of all due to the overpoweringly fine performance by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson this film is so honest and uplifting that it doesn't leave a dry eye in the audience.
The story is well known: Probation Officer Sean Porter (Johnson) is frustrated that the boys in his camp for young criminals when released to the streets show 75% returning and a large number dying in gang related violence. He sees this trend as being due to the lack of self-esteem in kids whose lives outside are demeaning and encourage failure. He gathers support from his fellow workers Malcolm Moore (Xzibit), Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and Ted Dexter (Kevin Dunn) and gradually builds confidence in his project to organize a football team of his inmates. We wisely get to know the background of a few of the more difficult incarcerated boys, a fact that makes the project more full of tension and understanding of the problems to be resolved. Though most of the cast are unknowns, they are fine actors in this film: Jade Yorker, David V. Thomas, Setu Taase, Mo, James Earl, Trever O'Brien, Brandon Mychal Smith, Danny Martinez, Joe Seo, and Joey Lucero.
Through the team's growth as a unit they confront and manage to cope with problems and grow into goal-driven, good spirited young men. The presence of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is stunningly underplayed and all the more powerful for it. This is a sensitive performance that places Johnson in an all new category of respect as an actor. The film is overly long (120 minutes) due to repeated games the team plays and for devotees of Football that will be a positive aspect. But far more important than the games is the quiet growing of trust and faith that shows in the faces of this fine cast. Recommended viewing, especially for those who think they have seen too many sports related do-good films! Grady Harp
The story is well known: Probation Officer Sean Porter (Johnson) is frustrated that the boys in his camp for young criminals when released to the streets show 75% returning and a large number dying in gang related violence. He sees this trend as being due to the lack of self-esteem in kids whose lives outside are demeaning and encourage failure. He gathers support from his fellow workers Malcolm Moore (Xzibit), Paul Higa (Leon Rippy) and Ted Dexter (Kevin Dunn) and gradually builds confidence in his project to organize a football team of his inmates. We wisely get to know the background of a few of the more difficult incarcerated boys, a fact that makes the project more full of tension and understanding of the problems to be resolved. Though most of the cast are unknowns, they are fine actors in this film: Jade Yorker, David V. Thomas, Setu Taase, Mo, James Earl, Trever O'Brien, Brandon Mychal Smith, Danny Martinez, Joe Seo, and Joey Lucero.
Through the team's growth as a unit they confront and manage to cope with problems and grow into goal-driven, good spirited young men. The presence of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is stunningly underplayed and all the more powerful for it. This is a sensitive performance that places Johnson in an all new category of respect as an actor. The film is overly long (120 minutes) due to repeated games the team plays and for devotees of Football that will be a positive aspect. But far more important than the games is the quiet growing of trust and faith that shows in the faces of this fine cast. Recommended viewing, especially for those who think they have seen too many sports related do-good films! Grady Harp
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Çete
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $38,432,823
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $14,414,630
- Sep 17, 2006
- Gross worldwide
- $41,480,851
- Runtime2 hours 5 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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