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Vondie Curtis-Hall's directorial debut (his next film was the unfortunate Mariah Carey vehicle Glitter), Gridlock'd has a lot of good ideas, but doesn't quite know what to do with them for the relatively brief hour-and-a-half running time. While a lot of movies have the problem of running half an hour too long, Gridlock'd has the problem of being about half an hour too short.

Stretch (Tim Roth) and Spoon (Tupac Shakur, in one of his last film roles) are two junkies who have made a New Year's resolution to go into detox and get clean after Spoon's girlfriend, Cookie (Thandie Newton), overdoses and has to be dragged to the hospital. Without patience or Medicaid cards, however, Stretch and Spoon find that it's not as easy to get into detox as just going down the street and declaring that you want to keep clean. In their search to fulfill the requirements to get into detox, they also much find ways to overcome withdrawal and avoid the homicidal drug-dealer D-Reper (Curtis-Hall).

Roth and Shakur have great chemistry, and the overarching critique of the bureaucracy surrounding health care and drug rehab has the potential to make Gridlock'd a cult classic. The inclusion of random flashbacks and multiple side stories (involving stolen drugs and multiple run-ins with D-Reper), however, give the film a very rushed feel, and ultimately works to undermine the main story and the chemistry of the actors. Shakur and Roth do their best to keep the movie afloat with their witty banter, something they are called on to do for most of the movie, but two actors can only do so much. That's not to say that Gridlock'd is a bad film, or even that it's poorly written. It's just a prime example of a movie with too many ideas and not enough time to give them all justice.

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Copyright 2008 Benjamin Wood