Gang Related

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.

Gang Related had a great premise, which was enough to get me to want to see it. James Belushi (K-9, Race the Sun) and the late Tupac Shakur (Gridlocked, Poetic Justice) play two corrupt cops. They sell stolen drugs, kill the guy they sold it to, take the drugs & money, and label the crime as gang related. This has worked for the first ten times, but the 11th doesn't. The 11th guy they killed, turned out to be an undercover cop. So the two are put in charge of finding the killer. So knowing that they themselves killed him and could be in huge trouble, they begin to look for possible candidates to take the fall. Eventually they decide on a homeless man, wonderfully played by an unrecognizable Dennis Quaid (Switchback, Dragonheart). They then get Belushi's girlfriend and stripper, Lela Rochon (Waiting to Exhale, The Chamber) to testify against him. Soon though things don't work out as Rochon starts to lose confidence and more evidence comes out about the mysterious homeless man. Belushi and Shakur start to lose their trust and confidence with each other. This is a well-written film with some great dialogue and an awesome ending. James Belushi is great as the mastermind behind the plot and the one who won't give up. Tupac Shakur is just as good (in his final role) as the partner who has at least some sort of a conscience. Rochon is good. Fine support work is turned in by James Earl Jones and David Paymer as Quaid's lawyers. I highly recommend this movie. Rated R: (violence, language, nudity)

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.

I didn't have very high expectations for this one (partly because I am not terribly keen on James Belushi) but actually, the film was pretty good.

The important thing is to understand the film as a thriller, rather than as a realistic or atmospheric piece. The subject matter and designated environment would point to noir, but the film fails to capture a sense of place or encapsulate an environment and way of life in a way that would justify such a designation. The environment is not actually unrealistic, but again it is not really captured either. Instead, the grit and indeed realism, tends to throw off the viewer, causing him to anticipate a different type of film. "Gang Related" is about plot, and there are a satisfactory number of twists and turns for the viewer. One could easily imagine a movie like this being adapted to the stage.

The acting is generally of a very high standard with strong performances by Shakur and Belushi. The weakness of this film is rather in the fact that the film fails to create or capture a set of especially nuanced characters, and similarly fails to create a strong sense of place. A different director and different cinematography could have done this without substantial alteration. The dramatic twists and turns in the plot also could be considered a weakness, but this would be due to a misunderstanding of the type of story being told, rather than because that story is in itself a bad one.

GANG RELATED (1997) ***

Starring: James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Lela Rochon, Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones, and David Paymer Written and directed by: Jim Kouf Running Time: 106 minutes Rated R (for strong pervasive language, violence, sexual situations, and some nudity)

By Blake French:

My expectations for "Gang Related" weren't exactly peak high when I decided to screen it. The production just didn't look like anything new to be added into the gritty undercover street cop genre. I was wrong, and the film is somewhat original. I liked the film and its gritty ghetto style it is shot in. I recommend it to those of you looking for a violence action picture with an attitude.

The film's setup begins a little week, but then triggers a series of unpredictable events that connect to each other in a distributive fashion. The two main characters are FBI agents Divinci (James Belushi), and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur). They are corrupt cops, taking the law into their own hands in many cases, sometimes resulting in murder. One night, Divinci and Rodriguez undercover a drug bust that ends in them shooting the seeming criminal dead. As it turns out, the so called drug lord was actually an undercover cop.

The movie's intentions are clear from the first act; we are watching a story from the bad guys point of view. It is an unconventional idea. The opening contains to little dramatic material to go much anywhere, so the rest of the film much hinge of from it. We meet two characters, receive some development that explains to us these are down on their luck, profane, unrighteous individuals, and are then propelled into the rest of the plot, which basically details the complications of the villain's bad choices.

Once Divinci and Rodriguez learn the identity of the man they brutally killed, they panic. Their first intentions. Since they are the cops assigned to this high pressure case, that they will need to come up with a either a criminal suspect who will plead guilty to their dastardly deed, or frame a crime friendly fellow who can't prove he didn't commit their murder. In the streets they come from, crime and murder is an everyday occurrence, so their plans should work out a-okay...right.

I really liked where the film goes from here: In desperation, Divinci and Rodriguez decide to frame a homeless bum for their murderous crime, played tremendously convincing by Dennis Quaid. The bearded man selected is so out of it, he doesn't even remember his name. So our two incisive corrupters give him a name, plant evidence, explain to him a story which he believes happened, and bribe him to confession.

Characters who enter the story afterward are Cynthia (Lela Rochon), a stripper who is persuaded to lend a deceitful but helping hand to Divinci and Rodriguez, powerful lawyer Arthur Baylor James (Earl Jones), who comes to the rescue of the bum's hopeless defense, and another "lesser" lawyer named Elliot Goff (David Paymer).

"Gang Related" contains a story that is as involving and intriguing as any action picture in the last several years. It uncommonly has unpredictable elements inside. The complication of the conflict are tense and involving as the characters sink themselves into a deeper pit of despair and trouble. But one thing came across my mind as I watched Divinci and Rodriguez work up a taut sweat as they make life or death cover up choices, why don't they just flee the country?

Jim Kouf, who wrote and directed this final film to star the late Tupac Shakur, observes decent performances with the strong dramatic impulse manifested. He holds nothing back, and at times goes over the edge a little in his style of direction. The atmosphere created in "Gang Related" is abrasive, pervasive, and indiscreetly tough. But with such a movie titled "Gang Related," what would you expect?

Brought to you by Orion Pictures.