It was tough to watch this movie because going in because I knew it was Tupac’s final film role (Bullet came out afterwards, but was filmed before) and it happened to star an actor I cannot stand whatsoever, Jim Belushi. Honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed him in anything. I was hoping that he’d take more of a backseat in this film and let the light shine on Tupac. I should’ve know he wouldn’t let anyone steal his spotlight.
In Gang Related, Tupac Shakur, for only the second time in his brief career, finds himself on the less wanted side of law enforcement. Unfortunately for his character, Detective Rodriguez, he’s a corrupt cop doing whatever he can, legal or otherwise, to come up with the money to pay off his $27,000 debt, lest Tiny Lister beat the ever loving hell out of him. And if that wasn’t a large enough misfortune, he’s placed his trust in his partner, played by Jim Belushi. As luck would have it, he’s even more corrupt and recently shotgunned an undercover DEA agent to death during a drug deal.
Much like last week’s Gridlock’d, Tupac’s character finds himself in a situation that has spiraled far beyond his control and most of the film’s runtime is spent doing everything he possibly can to get himself out of it. When he was navigating a difficult bureaucracy with the hopes of getting himself off drugs it was easy to cheer for him. While his choices were not always admirable, they were at least made with the best of intentions. But in writer/director Jim Kouf’s tale, standing behind him isn’t so easy. Even if you manage to look past the gambling and the drugs, there’s no way to acquit him of the choices he makes while pinning the DEA agent’s murder on someone else to make it go away.
We cannot place all the blame at Tupac’s feet, as he isn’t the captain of the ship. That title belongs to the Hawaiian shirt clad James Belushi (doesn’t he wear those shirts in every movie?). With the help of a stripper/dancer that he hopes to run away with (without telling his wife), Belushi pins the murder on a drunken homeless man who lives in the alley near her house. It wasn’t his first choice, but this “able” detective first tried to pin it on people who were either already in jail or in the hospital at the time of the crime. He’s not good at this, so of course his plan falls apart.
How it falls apart is where the movie completely lost me. I should’ve known when the homeless man was played by Dennis Quaid that there would be something larger in store for us, especially in the mid-late 90’s when twist surprises were all the rage. I won’t ruin the twist here, but it wasn’t necessary, much like Quaid’s entire character. This film would have been much more interesting had we just seen the vice begin to close in on the two detectives as they desperately try to squeeze their way out.
It’s a move that cost us time with Tupac in his final role and saddled us with more Belushi.
That is the real crime.
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
Great read, now following!
Thank you! Hope to hear more from you!