USA Today
"...Shakur is perfectly matched with Tim Roth as manic Stretch. The British actor revels in impersonating American lowlifes..." -- 3 out of 4 stars 01/29/1997 p.3DEntertainment Weekly
"...[Shakur] lends Spoon a tremor of sorrow, projecting a supple emotionalism..." 01/31/1997 p.38-9 New York Times
"...A smart, well-made buddy film....[Shakur] played this part with an appealing mix of presence, confidence and humor..." 01/29/1997 p.C12 Los Angeles Times
"...Shakur has the relaxed presence of a young Wesley Snipes and plays perfectly off the delirious Tim Roth..." 01/29/1997 p.F1 Chicago Sun-Times
"...This is grim material, but surprisingly entertaining....[Shakur] gives his best performance..." 01/29/1997 p.39 Boxoffice Magazine 9 of 10
Gridlock'd includes the best of several movie genres; it's comic and dramatic, true and adventurous. It also leaves the audience with a message that's deep and exceptional. Different from former films that have portrayed drug abuse as a glamorous way to survive, Gridlock'd demonstrates the real side of addiction, where using heroin and cocaine is like toying with a bomb. A story of guns, drugs, poverty, death and yet joviality, Gridlock'd provides an evening of superb entertainment. Roth is exceptional, as always, and even nonfans of the controversial rappist/actor Shakur will find his performance appealing. As did Brandon Lee with The Crow, Shakur closes his film career with a great film. (As a way of honoring him, Gridlock'd ends with the dedication "For Tupac 'One Love' RIP." - Heidi Easter
TIME Magazine 9 of 10
In Gridlock'd, Tupac Shakur plays Spoon, a musician who resolves to say aloha to heroin after his singer girlfriend Cookie (radiant Thandie Newton) nearly dies from a drug overdose. The plot has Spoon and his nutsy pal Stretch (wild man Tim Roth) fleeing a Detroit drug lord (Curtis Hall) who's peeved that the lads stole his stash. But the real story is of the runaround Spoon and Stretch get from social-service employees who can't be bothered to help addicts get into rehab programs. This is an action comedy about two guys waiting in line for nothing to happen: Samuel Beckett rewritten for Simpson-Bruckheimer... The film's villains are from Central Casting, the cops from Keystone. But that's not what matters. Taking a page from the Martin Scorsese handbook, Curtis Hall smartly heightens moments with epic visual declarations (slo-mo, negative images, gigantic closeups). The speeches are arias, the shots operatic, complex. The performances are also big; nearly everyone in this Act-O-Rama gets a screaming scene. The tone is set by Roth, the Brit of choice for those directors who think Gary Oldman just doesn't push it far enough. It's cartoon work, really (imagine Henery Hawk trying to be the Tasmanian Devil), but fun to watch. And Shakur, as the sensible guy, plays nicely off Roth. He is both Stretch's keeper and the film's conscience. "When gettin' high becomes a job," he muses, "what's the point?" Shakur also serves as his own elegist. "All the things we talked about," he says of Cookie when he thinks she might be dead, "things she wanted to do--then she ups and dies. I don't wanna go out like that." Later he speaks one of the most introspective lines in the Afro-action canon: "Somehow I don't think this was my parents' dream for me." With Shakur's death, Hollywood lost part of its own dream to become a robust rainbow cinema. Gridlock'd gives a taste of what the movies are going to miss. - Richard Corliss
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