Gridlock'd (1997)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Vondie Curtis-Hall

Writer:

Vondie Curtis-Hall (writer)

Release Date:

29 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Good time to kick.. Bad day to pick.

Plot:

After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Police | Drug Dealer | Blood Serum | Drug Snorting

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Tupac Shakur	...	Ezekiel 'Spoon' Whitmore
Tim Roth	...	Alexander 'Stretch' Rawland
Thandie Newton	...	Barbara 'Cookie' Cook
Charles Fleischer	...	Mr. Woodson
Howard Hesseman	...	Blind Man
James Pickens Jr.	...	Supervisor
John Sayles	...	Cop #1
Eric Payne	...	Cop #2
Tom Towles	...	D-Reper's Henchman
Tom Wright	...	Koolaid
James Shanta	...	Patrolman #1
Jim O'Malley	...	Patrolman #2
George Poulos	...	Chuck
Debbie Zaricor	...	Clerk
Mik Scriba	...	Officer #1

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #34985) | Australia:R | Brazil:18 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 (bw) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Lacy Street Production Center - 2630 Lacy Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Def Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: The movie is set in Detroit on New Year's Day, but not one person is wearing winter outerwear.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Scary Movie (2000)

Soundtrack:

Joy To The World

Sober, in-your face reflection of reality mixed with dark comedy.

Recently I saw `Gridlock'd' on BET, in edited format - however I enjoyed this movie great deal. On one hand, it describes the unpredictable and often dangerous lives of drug addicts - dealing with murder, overdoes, unemployment, STDs, etc. - in doing so it once again explicates the consequences of substance abuse. On the other hand - it depicts the absurdity of government bureaucracy and healthcare system in USA. Although being Canadian myself and enjoying privileges of "free" healthcare, one can still relate to the misfortunes of this movie's protagonists in their search to end their deadly habit - in their losing fight against "the system". Acting is expectedly good - Tim Roth does his usual swaggy/ cool style, even with his character's boundaries; while the viewer enjoys one of the last appearances by the "fallen soldier", controversial rapper Tupac Shakur, whose main fascination was dealing with social issues such as the themes of this movie. Some interesting cameos too, not to spoil, I won't elaborate. Even watching edited version, I figured out that there is high amount of profanities and violence involved - however, I believe that is prudent to explicate the social issues of this movie. Good acting, believable/dynamic story; and although not a family movie, a definite "must" to any (PG14+) movie fan.

7/10