Gang Related (1997)

Two corrupt cops murder an undercover DEA agent by mistake, and frantically try to cover their tracks by framing a homeless man for the crime. That involves juggling evidence, coaching ... See full summary »

Director:

Jim Kouf

Writer:

Jim Kouf

Stars:

James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Lela Rochon

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Belushi	...	Det. Frank Divinci
Tupac Shakur	...	Det. Rodriguez
Lela Rochon	...	Cynthia Webb
Dennis Quaid	...	Joe Doe / William
James Earl Jones	...	Arthur Baylor
David Paymer	...	Elliot Goff
Wendy Crewson	...	Helen Eden
Gary Cole	...	Richard Simms
Terrence 'T.C.' Carson	...	Manny Landrew
Brad Greenquist	...	Richard Stein
James Handy	...	Capt. Henderson
Kool Moe Dee	...	Lionel Hudd
Victor Love	...	Hooper
Robert LaSardo	...	Sarkasian
Perry Anzilotti	...	Vic

Storyline

Two corrupt cops murder an undercover DEA agent by mistake, and frantically try to cover their tracks by framing a homeless man for the crime. That involves juggling evidence, coaching witnesses, and improvising to keep their desperate scheme from unraveling.

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Plot Keywords:

homeless man | murder | loan shark | undercover agent | police brutality | 

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Taglines:

Some cops play by the rules. Their own.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, some violence and a scene with nudity

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Criminal Intent

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£41,883 (UK) (14 August 1998)

Gross:

£95,133 (UK) (21 August 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation, Kouf/Bigelow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The spiky onscreen relationship between James Belushi and Tupac Shakur was helped offscreen by the fact that Shakur liked to nail his scenes in one or two takes, and was annoyed by Belushi preferring to do it in multiple takes.

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Goofs

In the overhead shot where they pick-up the third "suspect", the shadow of the boom mic is visible in the lower left-hand corner.

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Quotes

Detective Rodriguez: [in Divinci's office, shortly after Dunner is found Not Guilty] ...Bad news.
Divinci: Don't tell me: Clyde walked. I heard all about it.
Detective Rodriguez: Worse: Joe's going to stand trial. Judge Pine found him mentally unfit to plead one way or the other.
Divinci: [glaring at him in shock] You're joking with me! ...Right?
Detective Rodriguez: Oh, yeah, I *love* to make people laugh; that's my life's work! Did you hear the one about the two cops who wasted a Drug Enforcement Agent?

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Crazy Credits

Dedicated to Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)

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Connections

Features Sally Jessy Raphael (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Way to major"
Written by Daz Dillinger, Tray Dee
Performed by Daz Dillinger
Artist courtesy of The "Untouchable" Death Row Records

User Reviews

By the numbers but made more enjoyable by many famous faces and several good performances

Detectives Divinci and Rodriguez are crooked cops involved in dealing drugs and murdering the competition. When one of their victims turns out to be an undercover DEA agent, they are put on the case to find the murderer. With DEA agent Richard Simms desperate to get the killer, Divinci and Rodriguez realize that they have to frame someone else for the crime. Settling on homeless man 'Joe', they give him drink, get him to sign a statement and falsify the evidence to make a strong enough case to convict.

I had half wanted to see this film for a few years simply because I am keen to take the few chances I have to try see Tupac acting – for me he was the saviour of Poetic Justice and he is much better than the vast majority of the hip hop 'actors' we have seen recently. The plot here is pretty much a standard thriller plot based around two dirty cops and, although it lacks real flair or imagination, it still manages to do its job and be an enjoyable and occasionally quite gritty little thriller. It could have done with a greater sense of tension though, for the majority of the time it merely unfolds as opposed to being fast paced or very exciting but it is still an enjoyable enough little film even if it pretty much goes where you expect it to.

The cast is a big factor in making this film more interesting and making it rise above the other genre films that it will be competing with on the bottom shelf. Belushi has been in more than his fair share of sh*t video thrillers but here he is actually quite good and seems comfortable with material that, although not great, is certainly nowhere near the low level that he is getting used to. In his last film, Tupac is great and he should be a role model for all hip hop stars who want to act – even just in the choice of role he gives a great example – can you imagine many other rappers playing a corrupt cop with as little glamour as Tupac had? Snoop is a fine example, his last few roles have been versions of the caricature he plays in his music and many other rappers do the same – trading on their image rather than acting. Tupac is far from his gangsta image and he delivers a very down to earth performance – as with several other of his films he made this better by his presence. The gorgeous Lela Rochon is given an eye candy role at the start but she is able enough to make a good performance out of it (as well as having a body and looks to die for!). The smaller roles add the feeling of cast depth even if some of them add little else. Quaid for example has so little to do you wonder why he bothered – he feels like he should be a bigger part of the film but he isn't. For the opposite reason Jones, Cole and Paymer are all quite good because they are minor roles and they just feel like quality padding.

Overall this is not a particularly earth shattering thriller but it does its job well enough and I found it pretty enjoyable. A well-known cast certainly helps to make the material rise slightly above the rest of its genre but it is a great performance by Tupac in a different role that made it for me; if only other rappers were less afraid of their image when making role choices then we may not be experiencing a wave of awful blaxploitation films all over again.