A dark, effective satire about drug addiction that offers laughs as well as savage criticism of the US approach to dealing with users.
Comment
05/02/08
Gridlock'd (1997)
87
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:30
Fresh:26
Rotten:4
Average Rating:6.8/10
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Comedies
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... [More]
Starring: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, Vondie Curtis-Hall
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Reviews for Gridlock'd
Top CriticThe 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
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/01/00
Top CriticThe film does occasionally lapse into silly slapstick and caricature, but most of the way this is a tough, funny and scary cautionary tale.
01/01/00
Click to read the article
11/07/03
Exposes the obstacles that that two down-and-out men face in their efforts to turn their lives around.
08/28/02
A hard-edged, darkly funny satire about two Detroit junkies who discover if they want to go straight, they'll have to climb a Mt. Everest of forms, paperwork, office referrals, waiting rooms, rules and regulations.
01/01/00
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
Top CriticGridlock'd is refreshing because it's different. The subject matter isn't new, but the approach and tone are.
01/01/00
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11/07/02
A smart, well-made buddy film about two junkies desperate to kick the habit.
01/01/00
Top CriticA surprisingly light-hearted comedy about what happens when two self-imposed exiles from society decide to go straight and look to the system for a little help.
01/01/00
While not entirely successful, there's enough humor and humanism amid gritty urban locations to recommend Gridlock'd.
05/02/08
No review available.
12/18/02
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
Tupac Shakur turned in an excellent final performance.
01/01/00
The film is often quite funny, deftly walking the thin line between the harrowing and the hilarious.
01/01/00
A very underrated film that is also very truthful
09/01/03
No review available.
10/30/02
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
Latest News for Gridlock'd
June 22, 2006:
Box Office Preview: Sandler "Clicks" With New Comedy
Although Father's Day has passed, Hollywood brings out two very different stories about dads and their wacky adventures this weekend with Adam Sandler's comedy Click and Tyrese... More...
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