GRIDLOCK'D opens as the clock ticks down to the new year. A couple of junkies, Spoon and Stretch, struggle with the overdosed body of Spoon's girlfriend, Cookie. Slapping doesn't work, a cold bath doesn't work. They try to hail a cab to take her to the hospital. That doesn't work. Neither does calling an ambulance. Finally, they drag Cookie to the emergency ward, where the admissions person glances at the corpse-like form between the two men and instructs them to fill out a set of forms before she calls a doctor.

Is this a comedy? It could be. It intends to be.

Gramercy Pictures is promoting GRIDLOCK'D as a comedy about the social services bureaucracy. Shaken by Cookie's coma, Spoon and Stretch decide to get off smack. Hilarity is to ensue as they travel from agency to agency, encountering uniquely unhelpful civil servants. "Fill this out... Don't you have a Medicare card? Come back tomorrow... Didn't they tell you? You need to go downtown... We can't help you here... You were misinformed."

I waited patiently for this vein of comedy to take off, but it never did. There were funny moments, yes, such as when the guys come upon an office staffed by two women whose sole purpose is to tell visitors the office has moved (and they can barely be bothered to do that). Overall, though, the humor was pinioned by the unreasonable attitude of Spoon and Stretch. They argued if they didn't get into a rehab program by the end of the day, they'd never be able to do it. Not quite the attitude needed to make a major lifestyle change. It makes it much harder to gawk at the bureaucrats in amused disbelief. Midway through the movie, one social worker sets Stretch straight, saying something like, "Just because *YOU* decide to kick, we're supposed to change the rules? You've been on junk five, ten, how many years and now we're supposed to drop everything because today is the day you decide to kick!" That scene, while funny, flushed away my sympathy for Spoon and Stretch's plight. Institutional runaround seemed what they deserved.

With comedy subtracted from GRIDLOCK'D's possible strengths, gritty urban realism could have made the film worthwhile. Unfortunately, GRIDLOCK'D fails there, too. The junkies' addictions hardly seemed as real or intense as those depicted in TRAINSPOTTING. Characters that represented "life-on-the-streets" like the drug lord "D-Reper," seemed totally stock. And the Vietnam vet who goes nuts at the welfare office was an utter cliche. If realism were not the primary intent of the movie, I could appreciate certain stylizations. But GRIDLOCK'D wants to have it both ways.

These deficiencies originate from the script by first-time screenwriter and director, Vondie Curtis Hall. Despite his immature screenplay, however, I have to say Curtis Hall did a good job directing. He chooses his shots and transitions well; he has a meaningful sense of timing. Credit for GRIDLOCK'D's good looks must certainly be shared with cinematographer Bill Pope whose last film was the visually delicious BOUND. But I think if Curtis Hall directs a better script, it will probably be a good flick.

By far, the best thing about GRIDLOCK'D are its lead actors: Tim Roth as Stretch, Thandie Newton as Cookie and the late Tupac Shakur as Spoon.

I've been a Tim Roth fan since ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD and have followed him through RESERVOIR DOGS, LITTLE ODESSA and his Best Supporting Actor nomination last year for ROB ROY. He gives Stretch a realness that's often lacking in the script. With his gutter mouth and sloppy behavior, you can almost smell the stink rising from his body.

I've seen snippets of Tupac Shakur in POETIC JUSTICE and thought he was pretty good. His performance in GRIDLOCK'D convinced me that, had he lived and focused on film, Shakur could easily have been the next Wesley Snipes. He has the same level of talent and the same character appeal.

Despite the fact that Cookie spends most of GRIDLOCK'D in a coma, you do get to see a decent amount of Thandie Newton. She appears in flashback scenes of the night leading to her overdose. Thandie's long-limbed elegance is perfect for the trip-hop diva, beat poetess Cookie. She performs a couple numbers over the course of the movie, in her own voice. And let me tell you, her voice is fantastic (even if the songs are a little silly).

Overall, I found the music to be a strong point of the movie. The score jams and drives, like something from Soul Coughing, but jazzier. Tupac fans take note: He does rap, just a little bit, seconds before the end of the movie. A new, previously unreleased Tupac song, "Never Had a Friend Like Me," also blends into soundtrack.

It's too bad that the fine actors, good music, and well-executed direction could not have been applied to a better story. But if you're dying for a tale of bureaucratic nuttiness, you'll do far better with a rerun of "Seinfeld"'s "Chinese Restaurant" episode.

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