Gridlock'd

"Lately, I've been feelin' like my luck's gonna run out", confesses Spoon (Tupac Shakur) to best friend Stretch (Tim Roth) as he assesses his life and feels an uneasiness about his choices. Haunting words to hear from an actor who, shortly after speaking those lines, was killed in a drive by shooting. In Gridlock'd we follow the world's unluckiest junkies, Spoon and Stretch, on the day they decide to kick their cocaine habit. These guys end up chased by local gangsters, wanted by the police, shot and stabbed, but far worse--they have to deal with New York City's bureaucratic nightmare (the Social Services Department) as they try to get Medicare cards, their only ticket to the city's rehab program. Though graphic scenes of drug abuse abound, this film is loaded with style, armed with a powerhouse cast and is quite possibly America's answer to Transpotting. Highly recommended. (N. Plympton)