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“THE GRIDIRON GANG is another decent effort from
Rabin, although it does not reach the heights of REMEMBER THE TITANS
or poignancy of THE GREAT RAID, it offers more of the softer-side of
Trevor Rabin - making this score ironically special.”
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Off the Grid?
Review by Christopher
Coleman
No stranger to
sports-themed
films is composer
Trevor Rabin.
With films such as
GLORY ROAD, COACH
CARTER, and
REMEMBER THE
TITANS on his
trophy shelf,
Rabin jumps onto
the field again,
this time with
director Phil
Joanou for THE
GRIDIRON GANG.
THE GRIDIRON GANG
is based on the
true story of one
Sean Porter, a
California Youth
Authority
employee, who sees
that their efforts
to rehabilitate
their young
inmates is not
working. To
remedy this Porter
(played by Dwayne
"The Rock"
Johnson) forms a
high school
football team in
an attempt to
build self-esteem
and respect within
each player while
also teaching them
a respect that
crosses even the
jagged-lines of
L.A. gangdom.
THE GRIDIRON GANG,
while filled with
sports, outcast,
and inmate
clichés, and a
mediocre script,
does have its
moments of feeling
and inspiration.
Composer Trevor
Rabin helps bring
life to the films
better moments,
although few would
consider this one
of his most
original or
overall inspiring
efforts.
That said, the
listener will find
those unique
ingredients that
Trevor Rabin is
known for.
There is an
inspirational main
theme and that
gritty-synthetic
element. Quite
surprisingly there
are quite a few
moments of quiet
contemplation and
thoughtful-emotion
in THE GRIDIRON
GANG. The
end result is a
score that has
more to offer than
one might
expect...and in
ways one
definitely
wouldn't
anticipate.
Like so many of
TREVOR RABIN's
recent works
(FLYBOYS, THE
GREAT RAID) THE
GRIDIRON GANG
features a strong
and inspirational
title theme.
Rabin is truly one
of the best at
crafting just
that. About
half-way through
track 2, "We're
Better Than This,"
we get our first,
bold, statement of
the theme after
being teased by it
in track 1.
Not so
surprisingly,
Rabin crafts
another
exhilarating
ascending theme
here. While
the title theme,
nor the rest of
the score, doesn't
quite manage being
quite as uplifting
as some of his
other works of
2006, whenever the
theme does make an
appearance in the
film, it forms a
high point.
Both the theme,
and score, reaches
its zenith in
"Celebration
Epilogue" (12).
Trevor Rabin's
ability to write
thrilling action
pieces has been
well demonstrated
through the years,
but there are only
a handful of
tracks that allow
him to flex those
muscles this time
around.
"A Baddington
Game" (5) and
"Mustang
Challenge" (18),
may be the only
full action pieces
of the entire CD
while others like
"We're are Better
Than This Part 2"
and "We're
Better Than This
Part 3" contain
segments of action
but also have
their share of
subdued moments.
The biggest
surprise of this
score is how much
of it contains
music of
understatement and
even quiet beauty.
Reflecting the
fact that THE
GRIDIRON GANG is
far from another
remake of THE
LONGEST YARD, but
rather a story
about a real man's
desire to make a
true difference in
the lives of real,
young men, the
film and score
deliver good dose
of sentiment.
From "Training
Day" (6) to
"Junior" (11), we
have a suite of
soft and heartfelt
score that will
likely cause the
listener to forget
that fact that
this is THE
GRIDIRON GANG they
are listening to.
Overall, this
might be one of
the least
"football-scorish-scores"
for a football
film ever - at
least in terms of
expectation.
THE GRIDIRON GANG
is another decent
effort from Rabin,
although it does
not reach the
heights of
REMEMBER THE
TITANS or
poignancy of THE
GREAT RAID, it
offers more of the
softer-side of
Trevor Rabin -
making it
ironically
special.
This score might
be a little "off
the grid" for
some, but if you
are among Rabin's
fans, "the gang"
is certainly
worthy of being
added to your
collection.
Rating:
6/10
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Camp Kilpatrick |
5:31 |
*** |
|
2 |
We're Better
than This |
1:29 |
*** |
|
3 |
Sorry.
Football
is over. |
3:42 |
*** |
|
4 |
Roger's
Dead |
1:39 |
** |
|
5 |
A
Baddington
Game |
2:08 |
**** |
| 6 |
Training Day |
3:09 |
*** |
| 7 |
Rap Up |
3:27 |
*** |
| 8 |
Flowers |
2:44 |
**** |
| 9 |
Letter Writing Montage |
1:21 |
*** |
| 10 |
Good Job |
0:46 |
*** |
| 11 |
Junior |
1:39 |
*** |
| 12 |
Celebration Epilogue |
3:51 |
**** |
| 13 |
We're Better Than This Part 2 |
5:30 |
*** |
| 14 |
Calvin Gets Shot |
3:25 |
*** |
| 15 |
We're Better Than This Part 3 |
6:17 |
*** |
| 16 |
Forgiveness |
3:15 |
*** |
| 17 |
Junior Returns |
2:27 |
*** |
| 18 |
Mustang Challenge |
3:25 |
*** |
| |
Total
Running Time |
55 minutes |
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