Gang Related (1997)

This is an excellent thriller, with enough use of dialogue deftly interspersed with the action scenes to give depth to the characters and draw you in. Some of the monologues seem to tell a story all their own, creating a layered effect to the drama. The cast was very well chosen and put to good use to tell the very dramatic story. It is almost an ensemble cast because they seem to be so connected to each other. Some are obvious, and others you may only notice in reflection or a second viewing. The deft editing made this movie what it is. You may find yourself glued to your chair, breathless, waiting for the next move. Some scenes slow down a bit, while characters share fear, anger and pain, and then you're hit with a big change of pace. Sometimes there's a fade out, or fade in, but sometimes just a jolt. The lead actors, Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur, play two cops who've gotten themselves into a big mess, out of which they can only lie, cheat, steal and kill in order to save their jobs, and their lives. Naturally, this behavior cannot help but hurt others. Jim and Tupac had a great chemistry here. Their acting was top notch. Belushi is really good in comedies, but put him in a heavy dramatic role and he really blooms. Tupac could have had a great career in acting had he not died so young. He is missed. There is a certain amount of comic relief here and there, which helps with the tension created by the chaos of crooked cops, drugs and murder. They will take you by surprise, no doubt. James Earl Jones is a wonderful addition to the cast, his character gently weaving the drama together to quite a surprising anti-climax. I know this type of film is not necessarily for everyone. Maybe fans have gotten a little tired of the bad cops story line. Personally, however, I think it's one of the very best on the subject to come out of Tinsel Town. Some reviewers felt it had no realism, but I think it had a bit too much. Some scenes are so realistic that my back crawls a bit. Cops are only people, and there are some good and some bad. This film is gritty and could be hard to take for some. But is IS good. No matter how many times I see it in the listings, I manage to sit down for at least some of it. Bottom line: great screenplay, excellent editing, dynamic acting and insightful and gifted directing. Highly recommend.

A duo of cops + dope + a famous-rapper-turned-movie-star, what can you expect from such a mix of ingredients? The usual vile brew, you may say... But surprise! "Gang Related" soon proves worth much better than that – a fact you realize right from the very first minutes of projection, – and with what pleasure! Directed by the relatively unknown Jim Kouf, the film can indeed boast a personal tone, which makes it easily stand out of the crowd of lowbrow crime movies. Of course there is a duo of cops in this one but, to begin with, they are bad cops, a sure guarantee against an umpteenth rehash of "48 Hours", while creating at the same time a malaise rather uncommon in the duo of cops sub-genre. The two improbable partners here are white detective DiVinci (James Belushi, excelling at being unbearably talkative and self- satisfied) and his black counterpart Jake Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur, surprisingly collected in his last role). Another originality of the script is that they are not reluctant partners like in Hollywood's run of the mill cop movies: on the contrary they are on the same wavelength and not for the sake of fighting the good fight. Or to be more exact they were... as long as their shenanigans did not go too far. Because just now DiVinci is crossing the line. Not content indeed to steal the drug from dealers, he has started to kill them. Which is not to the taste of Rodriguez who, although not a lamb himself, cannot put up with such deviations anymore. Little by little he turns into the Jiminy Cricket type but to no avail: the more he tries to refrain his partner, the more radical DiVinci gets. One of the plot's driving forces is precisely the worsening of the two men's relationships, with a more and more reluctant Tupac Shakur and a more and more freewheeling James Belushi, without the former managing to curb the latter's blind madness. The second main effective element lies in the parallel (and inexorable) worsening of the situation they find themselves in. As a matter of fact, DiVinci, who thinks he has a knack for finding ways out of bad situations invariably makes his mate and him jump out of the fire into the frying pan. The suspense does not lie in their desperate rushing along then – it is a recipe for disaster - but stems from the question 'how will DiVinci manage to make them sink even lower ?, Thrilling throughout, extremely well written, "Gang Related" is a superior crime movie – and with a moral viewpoint to crown it all. Nothing to do with Tarantino and his complacent displays of cynicism and sadistic violence. In 'Gang Related', the viewer is confronted from the beginning to the end to the question: are you ready to break the law in your everyday life and if so, where do you draw the line? But be reassured, nothing to do with boring lecturing either. Fun and surprise await you instead.

Corrupt cops Frank Divinci (James Belushi) and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur) kill a drug dealer to rob him with stripper Cynthia Webb (Lela Rochon). Rodriguez owes a large gambling debt to a loan shark. Divinci and Rodriguez are assigned to investigate the murder of the drug dealer who turns out to be an undercover DEA agent. They frame a homeless man (Dennis Quaid) for the crime. The cover-up becomes more and more complicated.This is an interesting little crime drama. The Dunner trial should be extended because that provides some of the tension. He gets off and is never heard from again. The various story threads should combine and cross until the whole thing blows up at the climax. Belushi does bombastic but he needs more desperation. Tupac is pretty good and shows that he could have been an interesting actor if he lived.

Much better movie than I expected. Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur have a good chemistry as 2 crooked, conflicted cops. Tupac Shakur actually played a very good character as the increasingly troubled cop. He was willing to bend some rules, and put some money in his pocket, but things have now gone entirely too far for him. Jim Belushi plays a morally dumb cop who continues to make the situation worse, and continues to believe he can probably manipulate his way out of anything.Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones and Lela Rochon were all excellent.I didn't expect too much from this, but I was drawn into a well-done, well-acted movie.