| Gridlock'd | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Vondie Curtis-Hall |
| Produced by | Damian Jones Michael Bennett |
| Written by | Vondie Curtis-Hall |
| Starring | Tupac Shakur Tim Roth Thandie Newton |
| Music by | Stewart Copeland |
| Cinematography | Bill Pope |
| Editing by | Christopher Koefoed |
| Studio | Interscope Communications Polygram Filmed Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures Gramercy Pictures |
| Release date(s) | January 29, 1997 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $5,571,205 |
Gridlock'd is a 1997 crime dramedy starring Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, and Thandie Newton. It was the directorial debut of Vondie Curtis-Hall, who also wrote the story and screenplay. The film's opening was relatively low, despite critical acclaim; its opening weekend netted only $2,678,372 and it finished with a little over $5.5 million.[1] The film paid tribute to star Tupac Shakur, who had been murdered several months prior to the film's release.
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Set in Detroit, Gridlock'd centers around heroin addicts Spoon (Tupac Shakur), Stretch (Tim Roth) and Cookie (Thandie Newton). They are all in a band together in the spoken word genre. They go by the name of Eight Mile Road, with Cookie on the vocals, Spoon on the bass guitar (plus secondary vocals), and Stretch on the piano. Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their habit after Cookie overdoses on her first hit. Throughout a disastrous day, the two addicts dodge police and local criminals while struggling with an apathetic government bureaucracy that bars their entrance into a rehabilitation program.
The New York Times editor Janet Maslin praised Shakur's performance: "He played this part with an appealing mix of presence, confidence and humor".[2] Desson Howe, for the Washington Post, wrote, "Shakur and Roth, who seem born for these roles, are allowed to take charge - and have fun doing it".[3] USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and felt that Hall had not "latched onto a particularly original notion of city blight. But he knows how to mine the humor in such desperation".[4]
Entertainment Weekly gave the film "B" rating and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Gridlock'd doesn't have the imaginative vision of a movie like Trainspotting, yet it's more literally true to the haphazard torpor of the junkie life than anything we've seen on screen since Drugstore Cowboy... Curtis Hall has caught the bottom-feeder enervation of heroin addiction".[5]
Gridlock'd debuted at #9 at the US box office with $2,678,372.[6]
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