Istinti criminali

GANG RELATED (1997) ***

Starring: James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Lela Rochon, Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones, and David Paymer Written and directed by: Jim Kouf Running Time: 106 minutes Rated R (for strong pervasive language, violence, sexual situations, and some nudity)

By Blake French:

My expectations for "Gang Related" weren't exactly peak high when I decided to screen it. The production just didn't look like anything new to be added into the gritty undercover street cop genre. I was wrong, and the film is somewhat original. I liked the film and its gritty ghetto style it is shot in. I recommend it to those of you looking for a violence action picture with an attitude.

The film's setup begins a little week, but then triggers a series of unpredictable events that connect to each other in a distributive fashion. The two main characters are FBI agents Divinci (James Belushi), and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur). They are corrupt cops, taking the law into their own hands in many cases, sometimes resulting in murder. One night, Divinci and Rodriguez undercover a drug bust that ends in them shooting the seeming criminal dead. As it turns out, the so called drug lord was actually an undercover cop.

The movie's intentions are clear from the first act; we are watching a story from the bad guys point of view. It is an unconventional idea. The opening contains to little dramatic material to go much anywhere, so the rest of the film much hinge of from it. We meet two characters, receive some development that explains to us these are down on their luck, profane, unrighteous individuals, and are then propelled into the rest of the plot, which basically details the complications of the villain's bad choices.

Once Divinci and Rodriguez learn the identity of the man they brutally killed, they panic. Their first intentions. Since they are the cops assigned to this high pressure case, that they will need to come up with a either a criminal suspect who will plead guilty to their dastardly deed, or frame a crime friendly fellow who can't prove he didn't commit their murder. In the streets they come from, crime and murder is an everyday occurrence, so their plans should work out a-okay...right.

I really liked where the film goes from here: In desperation, Divinci and Rodriguez decide to frame a homeless bum for their murderous crime, played tremendously convincing by Dennis Quaid. The bearded man selected is so out of it, he doesn't even remember his name. So our two incisive corrupters give him a name, plant evidence, explain to him a story which he believes happened, and bribe him to confession.

Characters who enter the story afterward are Cynthia (Lela Rochon), a stripper who is persuaded to lend a deceitful but helping hand to Divinci and Rodriguez, powerful lawyer Arthur Baylor James (Earl Jones), who comes to the rescue of the bum's hopeless defense, and another "lesser" lawyer named Elliot Goff (David Paymer).

"Gang Related" contains a story that is as involving and intriguing as any action picture in the last several years. It uncommonly has unpredictable elements inside. The complication of the conflict are tense and involving as the characters sink themselves into a deeper pit of despair and trouble. But one thing came across my mind as I watched Divinci and Rodriguez work up a taut sweat as they make life or death cover up choices, why don't they just flee the country?

Jim Kouf, who wrote and directed this final film to star the late Tupac Shakur, observes decent performances with the strong dramatic impulse manifested. He holds nothing back, and at times goes over the edge a little in his style of direction. The atmosphere created in "Gang Related" is abrasive, pervasive, and indiscreetly tough. But with such a movie titled "Gang Related," what would you expect?

Brought to you by Orion Pictures.

Much better movie than I expected. Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur have a good chemistry as 2 crooked, conflicted cops. Tupac Shakur actually played a very good character as the increasingly troubled cop. He was willing to bend some rules, and put some money in his pocket, but things have now gone entirely too far for him. Jim Belushi plays a morally dumb cop who continues to make the situation worse, and continues to believe he can probably manipulate his way out of anything.

Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones and Lela Rochon were all excellent.

I didn't expect too much from this, but I was drawn into a well-done, well-acted movie.

Good movie....has a few twists and turns you don't expect. Both James Belushi & the late Tupac Shakur were well cast in the main roles - especially Belushi - this role being very different from his usual ones.

The only other two cast members that have some grunt in the movie are Lela Rochon and Dennis Quaid. James Earl Jones has an appearance - if only small - but for me I will never be able to disassociate him from the voice we have all come to know as Darth Vader.

Dennis Quaid however does some lime light stealing - but you'll just have to watch it to find out why! Overall good entertainment - may not be everyone's cup of tea - but had me engrossed. In a sense a typical good cops go wrong movie - but one that at least grabs you and sucks you in to watching it to find out what happens next.

I gave it a 7/10.

I really didn't want to rent this film, but one of my friends, PA(nick-name)who was a big fan of Tupac Shakur talked me into it. I am glad he did, because this was one of the best films of 1998. James Belushi was great in this film, and so was Shakur and Lela Rochon. James Earl Jones appears in a little role in the last 40 minutes of the film.He was great, too. However, the film is about two corrupt cops who sell drugs, then they kill

the buyer and steal the drugs and everything else of value on him. It had worked 10 times. But unfortunately the 11th time(The one we saw) goes wrong.The buyer was a undercover-cop and they has been set to do the investigation.Now the film really starts. The two cops now start looking for someone to blame, and a

homeless man named Tom looks like an easy target. The rest you can see for yourself.You really should. The movie is Great

I gave it 9/10!

Detectives Divinci and Rodriguez are crooked cops involved in dealing drugs and murdering the competition. When one of their victims turns out to be an undercover DEA agent, they are put on the case to find the murderer. With DEA agent Richard Simms desperate to get the killer, Divinci and Rodriguez realize that they have to frame someone else for the crime. Settling on homeless man 'Joe', they give him drink, get him to sign a statement and falsify the evidence to make a strong enough case to convict.

I had half wanted to see this film for a few years simply because I am keen to take the few chances I have to try see Tupac acting – for me he was the saviour of Poetic Justice and he is much better than the vast majority of the hip hop 'actors' we have seen recently. The plot here is pretty much a standard thriller plot based around two dirty cops and, although it lacks real flair or imagination, it still manages to do its job and be an enjoyable and occasionally quite gritty little thriller. It could have done with a greater sense of tension though, for the majority of the time it merely unfolds as opposed to being fast paced or very exciting but it is still an enjoyable enough little film even if it pretty much goes where you expect it to.

The cast is a big factor in making this film more interesting and making it rise above the other genre films that it will be competing with on the bottom shelf. Belushi has been in more than his fair share of sh*t video thrillers but here he is actually quite good and seems comfortable with material that, although not great, is certainly nowhere near the low level that he is getting used to. In his last film, Tupac is great and he should be a role model for all hip hop stars who want to act – even just in the choice of role he gives a great example – can you imagine many other rappers playing a corrupt cop with as little glamour as Tupac had? Snoop is a fine example, his last few roles have been versions of the caricature he plays in his music and many other rappers do the same – trading on their image rather than acting. Tupac is far from his gangsta image and he delivers a very down to earth performance – as with several other of his films he made this better by his presence. The gorgeous Lela Rochon is given an eye candy role at the start but she is able enough to make a good performance out of it (as well as having a body and looks to die for!). The smaller roles add the feeling of cast depth even if some of them add little else. Quaid for example has so little to do you wonder why he bothered – he feels like he should be a bigger part of the film but he isn't. For the opposite reason Jones, Cole and Paymer are all quite good because they are minor roles and they just feel like quality padding.

Overall this is not a particularly earth shattering thriller but it does its job well enough and I found it pretty enjoyable. A well-known cast certainly helps to make the material rise slightly above the rest of its genre but it is a great performance by Tupac in a different role that made it for me; if only other rappers were less afraid of their image when making role choices then we may not be experiencing a wave of awful blaxploitation films all over again.