Gridlock'd (1997)
87 %
Reviews Counted: 30 Fresh: 26 Rotten:4 Average Rating: 6.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Synopsis: When a friend OD's and winds up in a coma, a mismatched pair of Detroit junkies strive to seek help in kicking their heroin habit in government-sponsored programs, only to find themselves drowning in the comical--and sadly accurate--bureaucratic morass of sanctioned detox centers. An... [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Charles Fleischer
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Reviews
An engaging look at a mangy day in the lives of two junkies trying to kick, Gridlock'd would have been a good mid-level B.O. performer even without the interest surrounding it, due to the recent death of co-star Tupac Shakur.
Comment
05/02/08
Top Critic
A dark, effective satire about drug addiction that offers laughs as well as savage criticism of the US approach to dealing with users.
05/02/08
While not entirely successful, there's enough humor and humanism amid gritty urban locations to recommend Gridlock'd.
05/02/08
The film has a fairly uninteresting narrative motor in its thriller subplot, but hits on an edgy black comic tone for Stretch and Spoon's increasingly pained dealings with the unsympathetic representatives of authority.
02/09/06
The late Shakur is especially impressive as the brighter of the duo -- a frazzled but infinitely patient character with a touching faith that somehow, if the pair just keeps plugging away, everything will turn out okay.
06/05/05
An ambitious, too ambitious, effort by Curtis Hall that shows talent and a future behind the camera.
04/09/05
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11/06/02
Top Critic
Written and directed by actor Vondie Curtis Hall, the film blends savvy and sour-mash humor with bone-deep sadness that recalls predecessors as varied as After Hours and Trainspotting.
10/17/02
Exposes the obstacles that that two down-and-out men face in their efforts to turn their lives around.
08/28/02
The film seems so fresh it's almost possible to forget that it is a fraud in its description of the culture of hard drugs.
06/18/02
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06/05/02
The movie's appeal lies largely in its capacity for surprise, riffing off tired characters and pooped genres to produce, intermittently at least, a fresh new tone. Call it junkie humour.
04/12/02
Top Critic
Cast against type as the gentler of two musician junkies trying to burrow through the bureaucracy to enter a rehab clinic in Detroit, Shakur has the relaxed screen presence of a young Wesley Snipes and plays perfectly off the delirious Tim Roth.
02/14/01
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01/01/00
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01/01/00
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• Gridlock'd at Rotten Tomatoes
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