Gridlock'd (1997)

Critic Reviews

• Todd McCarthy, Variety

  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.

• Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

  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.

• Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

  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.

• Jack Mathews, Los Angeles Times

  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.

• Janet Maslin, New York Times

  A smart, well-made buddy film about two junkies desperate to kick the habit.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  This is grim material, but surprisingly entertaining, and it is more cause to mourn the recent death of Shakur, who gives his best performance as Spoon, a musician who wants to get off drugs.

• , Film4

  A dark, effective satire about drug addiction that offers laughs as well as savage criticism of the US approach to dealing with users.

• Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  While not entirely successful, there's enough humor and humanism amid gritty urban locations to recommend Gridlock'd.

• Derek Adams, Time Out

  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.

• Russell Smith, Austin Chronicle

  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.

• Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  An ambitious, too ambitious, effort by Curtis Hall that shows talent and a future behind the camera.

• Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat

  A very underrated film that is also very truthful

• Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer

  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.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  Exposes the obstacles that that two down-and-out men face in their efforts to turn their lives around.

• Scott Renshaw, rec.arts.movies.reviews

  In Gridlock'd, an oddly effective combination of gritty drama and social satire, Shakur and his co-star Tim Roth take sketchy characters and make them exciting to watch through the pure energy of their talent and chemistry.

Read all 15 critic reviews