The Movie That Will Launch a 1,000 "We Don't Like the Smell of What the Rock is Cooking" Headlines

Last night we decided to unwind with some Mexican food and a second viewing of "Talladega Nights," because that's sort of the mood we were in. (Favorite line this time, "Hi, I'm Susan. I painted the car...We had sex.") That mood also included sudden failure to tell time, so we wandered into our theater an hour early and were greeted by The Rock's new, as-yet-unreleased movie, "Gridiron Gang." We were politely accosted by the woman running the screening who invited us to sit and watch the last half anyway. Apparently The Rock is bringing the junket to D.C. soon and the screening was to ensure that the press was aware The Rock is now a serious Actor.

"Gridiron Gang" is about a never-say-die coach at a juvenile detention facility who uses football to turn his scrappy ne'er-do-wells into a cohesive team of young warriors who no longer think life is about knocking over 7-11's. At least that's what we gathered in the five minutes we sat there. Even a free screening couldn't keep us in the seats. Boring football footage interspersed with ho-hum acting in the service of trite themes.

However, during the closing credits (the darn thing was still playing when we came back after a trip to Borders) we saw some interesting footage. The movie is based on a documentary of the same name, which looks like powerful stuff. I found myself sort of moved by just the few minutes of the kids talking about what becoming a football player meant to them. Could be worth Netflixing.