Gridlock'd (1997)

The trailer looked like fun, but it's been a while since I have seen such a boring flick! The current IMDb rating of 7 must be because of all the Tupac fanboys.I really couldn't stand all the pretentious pseudo intellectual crap talking. And all the cigarette smoking, every single scene - looks so cool and rebellious... if you are 14 perhaps.Special marks to the black girl with the British accent for playing such an annoying, vapid, super pretentious bimbo. I'm sure in real life she is nothing like that, and she was really cast for her unique acting abilities.Tupac comes across as a pretentious wannabe poet rather than a street smart rapper. Watching him pretending to play double bass in a jazz band with his cracker buddy on keys, and the bimbo uttering faux deep bullshit in the mic... embarrassing!If I was a Tupac fanboy, I really wouldn't like to see this movie!

Imagine the lives of the two musicians, Stretch and Spoon, part of a jazz combo that receive a warning sign when the other member of the group, the sultry Cookie, the singer, is found almost comatose after a drug overdose. Stretch and Spoon decide they have been lucky, so far; they must change their lives and their dependency on drugs.Alas, the system is against them. The two embark in a vain attempt to be enrolled in Medicaid so they can be detoxed. Everything turns against them. To vent their frustrations, they visit the drug dealing Mud, but they are surprised what they find in the apartment. Then, to make matters worse, they are chased by a dangerous duo who want something they took from Mud's place that belong to them.The pair get into all kinds of hot water. They are even shown on the television news as the probable culprits for offing their friend. In every government agency the two visit, they are dealt a blow, as nothing comes as simple as what they thought would be a cinch. In order to accomplish being admitted to a hospital and be treated, Spoon asks his buddy to stab him, after Stretch has been shot in the arm. In a hilarious sequence, Stretch tries in vein to do what his friends want him to do."Gridlock'd" directed by Vondie Curtis Hall, an actor making his debut behind the camera, is a personal triumph. Mr. Hall got an excellent crew to work with and amazing performances from Tim Roth and Tupac Shakur, a rap star who died too young. Mr. Shakur impresses as he holds his own against a more experienced film actor of the stature of Mr. Roth. Both are great fun to watch. Thandie Newton, a gorgeous actress, plays Cookie, a sort of singer with an unique style. John Sayles, who had directed Mr. Hall in "Passion Fish" has a brief role as a cop.This film will delight viewers with its fast pace in the mean streets of Detroit. The language might put some people off, but it works fine in the context of the action and what the characters are supposed to be.

Seriously, next time you hear a black director complaining about how tough it is to get their movie made or how biased the Hollywood system is don't blame 'the man' no matter how tempting...blame Vondie Curtis Hall. Once thought to be the Spike Lee of useless people, Mr. Hall vaulted himself into the loser hall of fame not long after Gridlock'd for his work on the monumental Glitter, which would have been the Gigli of it's day had Mariah Carey not been long washed up by the time of its release. Lil' Vondie did no better with Gridlock'd despite having a decent cast and a plot revolving around heroin, which was like the goose that laid the golden demographic during most of the 90's. Unfortunately, Hall chose to make the actors say line that even Jesus couldn't pull off and throw in every cliché in three books. I guess he thought that making a relevant black movie was as easy as being black and hiring a prominent hip hop star to act in unfortunately his worst, and I believe last, role of a relatively short career. Throw in a little Tim Roth during his "I'm too cool for school because I'm in some Tarantino flicks and can do no wrong" period of overratedness and some absolutely embarrassingly brutal scenes of the two of them in a Jazz club playing stand-up bass and keyboards, respectively, with Thandie Newton on vocals and you, my dear Vondie, have a perfect recipe for a truly pathetic disaster. But you have to give him a little credit, somehow he convinced two pretty big stars to take a chance on his little movie, who most would think was not even quite at first draft stage, (although who knows...maybe it would have been great with a competent director)and somehow after this horrific disaster still lived to magically taint the disease-ridden career of Mariah Carey to irreparable levels. I'm no expert, but I'd say he does a lot of praying.

A modern day adventure, Gridlocked takes you on a ride that feels like you're trying to kick a drug habit like our two heros. I would put this drug-addiction movie in the same category as Requiem for a Dream, Spun, and Trainspotting. Tupac delivers and his chemistry with Stretch is amazing.