Addiction is never an easy subject to represent in fiction because in order to convey the life of an addict, the artist behind the work needs to somehow capture the blissful euphoria as well as the fear and terror that come with being an addict. Danny Boyle, in 1996, made one of the seminal representations of drug addicts with his classic dark comedy, Trainspotting, which looked at the trials and tribulations of a set of Edinburgh heroin addicts, focusing on the struggles of addiction through the lens of darkly comic despair. Another film that is very much in this vein, and unfortunately far less well-known is Vondie Curtis-Hall’s Gridlock’d, a tremendously absurd but oddly entertaining black comedy with a bleak undercurrent and brief forays into showing serious social issues through the perspective of humorous situations. Perhaps not the definitive classic that Trainspotting or other similarly-themed films were, but it is a charming, often subversively hilarious film that looks at the more absurd side of addiction without making light of the very serious issue that it covers, and under its sardonic exterior, Gridlock’d has a profoundly grave sentiment that hints at a larger social issue than what is contained in the film. Gridlock’d is quite a film, and while it may not be particularly innovative, it shows a side of society rarely conveyed with such detail and manages to somehow be a deeply personal work, one that looks at significant issues without losing sight of its inherent offbeat nature.

Spoon (Tupac Shakur) and Stretch (Tim Roth) are two heroin addicts living in New York City. When they aren’t injecting themselves with smack, the duo is a part of a spoken word band with Cookie (Thandie Newton), and they seem to be on the verge of breaking through into the mainstream, due to their powerful message and beguiling talents. However, when Cookie accidentally overdoses, Spoon and Stretch rush her to the emergency room, where the prognosis is not particularly positive, with the likelihood that she may never wake up from her coma. The fact that she may be on the verge of death motivates Spoon and Stretch to make a change in their own life, deciding to resolve to quit using heroin – however, “kicking it” proves to be a lot more difficult than they could’ve imagined, and they attempt to get into a rehabilitation programme to assist them in recovering from their addiction – but it would appear that the only thing more difficult than shaking a longtime drug addiction is finding help, as the duo set off onto a path of bleak hopelessness, being at the disposal of the unhelpful, twist bureaucracy, who seem to give very little regard to a pair of rough drug addicts. Along the way, Spoon and Stretch find themselves in a series of misadventures, finding themselves in the path of several people that they would prefer to not be involved with, such as the law enforcement and a pair of malicious gangsters who seem to be extremely trigger-happy. Over the course of a day, the pair try and change their lives, but encounter one obstacle after another, showing that the journey to improving oneself is not always particularly easy or simple and that there are various hardships that do come with it, just perhaps not as extreme as those presented to our protagonists in Gridlock’d – I cannot recall many New Years’ Resolutions resulting in being caught in gang warfare and being wanted for a murder you did not commit.

Looking at Tupac Shakur from a contemporary perspective is an interesting exercise, because he has become a folkloric figure – an artist who preached the truth, exposing the flaws in society, and genuinely making a change through his music, even if his personal life was not particularly admirable, with criminal convictions and his later murder showing that he was a controversial figure who had a life that was not reflective of the peaceful message he would often spread through his art. Gridlock’d was made just as Tupac had been released from prison (and released just after his death), and if you detach the iconic reputation he has gained post-mortem and look at this performance on its own, it serves to be a portrait of an artist attempting to atone for his past, and move towards something more profound. I do not claim to know the sordid details of the performer’s life, but one thing is clear through watching his performance in Gridlock’d: he was a true talent, and I was astonished to see him deliver such a complex, moving performance. I am not entirely sure what motivated him to take this role, and perhaps it was a way of acknowledging his own past and a way of working through his own personal struggles to reach a point where he too could “kick” is own habits. Regardless, he is very good in this film, armed with an authentic soulfulness and a warm glimmer in his eyes that show that he possessed talents that extended beyond socially-scathing rap music, and that he was a multi-faceted performer, someone who was able to give a truthful and genuine performer in a film like Gridlock’d. Arguably, the role didn’t require too much from the actor, but Tupac still commits entirely to the role, and it isn’t an earth-shatteringly important performance, but it is one filled with emotional gravitas and meaningful introspection on the part of the actor, and the difficulty in portraying a character who wants to make a change to his life and start over must have been a motivating factor in how Tupac conveyed this character’s inner turmoil, doubtlessly drawing on his own personal experiences. Gridlock’d was a profoundly melancholic experience in terms of Shakur’s career because it proved what a talent he truly was even outside of the medium in which he was most well-known.

The other half of the central duo in Gridlock’d is played by the consistently wonderful Tim Roth, who is one of the best character actors of his generation and someone who consistently challenges himself as an actor in a wide variety of roles. Gridlock’d is a film that seems to be a film that is well within Roth’s wheelhouse, yet it still allows him to experiment with his style in portraying the character. Gridlock’d as a whole is a film with flaws, and one of them, unfortunately, comes as a result of Roth’s performance, whereby while he is undeniably entertaining, there is clearly not the same genuine naturalism to his performance as there was with Shakur. Roth is not as good as he normally is, with his accent being unstable and his characterization being flawed, but he is still dedicated enough to make the character of Stretch an oddly endearing one. He is not given the same sympathetic nuances that made Spoon such a memorable character, but he is still as consistent as always, even if his performance itself leaves a bit to be desired (I recognize the contradiction here – Roth is an actor who can imbue any performance he gives with heft and humor, and while he does the same here, it is not as successful as when he has done it previously, but it is still passable). During the 1980s and 1990s, Roth seemed to excel at playing these complex characters, usually ones on the wrong side of the law, which makes some of his other performances quite distinctive. There is a scene in Gridlock’d where Roth’s character sits down on a couch and seems to be slowly sinking into it, thinking about the uncertainty of his position, and it evoked memories of one of his earliest performances, Mike Leigh’s Meantime, where his character is similarly pensive and uncertain in the same position. Gridlock’d seems to be a natural response to his first starring role, Made in Britain, where Roth played a rebellious youth with a penchant for hatefulness, and seeing him here, slightly older and playing a more haggard but still defiant and rebellious troublemaker, was quite something. It also helps that both Roth and Shakur have terrific chemistry, and are able to play off each other very well, creating a strangely lovable odd-couple scenario, with the more gentle and logical Shakur having to deal with the volatile and unpredictable Roth. The film is built on the relationship between these characters, and both performers inhabit these roles remarkably well. Gridlock’d won’t define the career of either or be considered an indelible part of their legacies, but it is a terrific addition to their respective careers, and allow them both to show their considerable range as performers.

If there was a way to describe Gridlock’d in as most simple terms as possible, I would probably call it “Franz Kafka meets Trainspotting“, and this extends far more than just being an amusing juxtaposition of two very different things, and speaks towards this film’s two biggest themes – drug use, and the bureaucracy. In terms of the latter, Gridlock’d is particularly Kafka-esque in its execution, and as an ardent devotee of the great writer, I was naturally going to adore Gridlock’d. The film takes place over roughly a single day (with various flashbacks to the past), and follows our protagonists as they move between various institutions in hopes that someone can help them acquire Medicaid cards so that they may start their rehabilitation process. As their journey goes on, it grows longer and they start to realize that perhaps the bureaucracy doesn’t actually care nearly as much about people like them as they claim to. The execution of this story was remarkably simple, and through placing these characters in positions that show the banal, endlessly convoluted nature of government institutions, it allows for some profound statements on society. Curtis-Hall smartly conceals the almost vitriolic disdain he has for the impenetrable government institutions that claim to be there to help people, but seem to be more intent on making life inconvenient, in a darkly comical film about the strange misadventures of two friends. Misinformation, deceit and complete and utter apathy is the concept that pulsates throughout the story, and through showing the absurdity of our modern world, and how twisted and labyrinthine public institutions often are. Kafka was particularly adept at showing how the unpleasantly elaborate nature of government is, particularly for those that are searching for help or answers. Curtis-Hall blends this hopeless, frustrating social commentary with a comical story, not intending to convey the bleakness of the situation, but also not avoiding looking at it. Through the brief interludes where we see the characters’ band performing, the truths they spout are uncomfortable, controversial and important to recognize, and through its idiosyncratic execution, it comments on society in a way that is playful but thought-provoking.

The other theme, and the one that is most central to the storyline of Gridlock’d, is that of drug addiction. Addiction in any form has always been an uncomfortable subject, but one that literature has conveyed consistently through the years. Gridlock’d looks at the use of one drug, in particular, that is rarely explored as much as other, mainly because it has the perception of being one of the most notoriously harmful drugs, and thus it is difficult to make a film about – heroin. Curtis-Hall attempted not only to show the misuse of heroin but to do it through the lens of a dark comedy, and much like Trainspotting, a film one cannot help but compare this film with, the deliriously dark, utterly absurd comedy of this story doesn’t mean to trivialize the addiction, but rather to represent the lives of addicts. Gridlock’d looks at two individuals who are not only addicted to heroin but are trying to quit it, and need help to do so. Gridlock’d doesn’t romanticize drug use, nor does it vilify drug addicts – rather, it is a portrait of the struggles addicts must endure, especially those that want to stop. It is a representation not only of the toll drug abuse can have on an individual, but also the tumultuous, uncomfortable and seemingly-impossible road to recovery that these individuals must endure. Trainspotting was a far more philosophical film that used heroin addiction to comment on society as a whole, and Gridlock’d, in a way, was the inverse, filtering societal struggles through the theme of addiction. Gridlock’d is an entertaining film, but it does have a bleak outlook, and it does not relent from showing the grisly, uncomfortable battle many addicts undergo in their day-to-day life. Based on what I have read, a lot of Gridlock’d was inspired by Curtis-Hall’s own experiences (both the drug use and the difficult bureaucratic encounters), and the sensitivity with which he approaches this story is quite remarkable.

Gridlock’d is quite a good film. It is an absurd, darkly hilarious and unabashedly strange film about the ridiculously twisted nature of government, and how the bureaucracy prevents anything from actually getting done. It is also a profoundly meaningful look into the lives of addicts, who are doing their best to recover from their addiction, and despite being intent on changing, they, unfortunately, need to depend on the aid of the aforementioned government institutions to help them, conveying the idea that addiction is not something that one can easily be rid of, but an illness that deserves as much nurturing and attention as other medical conditions. Gridlock’d has two great performances from the ever-consistent Tim Roth, and Tupac Shakur, who was oddly charming and endearing throughout the film. I need to ponder the themes presented in Gridlock’d a bit more closely because while it is undeniably a wonderfully subversive, eccentric film, it hints at social issues that are more profound than what is overtly presented. Gridlock’d is delightfully strange, and an offbeat buddy comedy that is as hilarious as it is thought-provoking.