guy-bellinger A duo of cops + dope + a famous-rapper-turned-movie-star, what can you expect from such a mix of ingredients? The usual vile brew, you may say... But surprise! "Gang Related" soon proves worth much better than that – a fact you realize right from the very first minutes of projection, – and with what pleasure! Directed by the relatively unknown Jim Kouf, the film can indeed boast a personal tone, which makes it easily stand out of the crowd of lowbrow crime movies. Of course there is a duo of cops in this one but, to begin with, they are bad cops, a sure guarantee against an umpteenth rehash of "48 Hours", while creating at the same time a malaise rather uncommon in the duo of cops sub-genre. The two improbable partners here are white detective DiVinci (James Belushi, excelling at being unbearably talkative and self- satisfied) and his black counterpart Jake Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur, surprisingly collected in his last role). Another originality of the script is that they are not reluctant partners like in Hollywood's run of the mill cop movies: on the contrary they are on the same wavelength and not for the sake of fighting the good fight. Or to be more exact they were... as long as their shenanigans did not go too far. Because just now DiVinci is crossing the line. Not content indeed to steal the drug from dealers, he has started to kill them. Which is not to the taste of Rodriguez who, although not a lamb himself, cannot put up with such deviations anymore. Little by little he turns into the Jiminy Cricket type but to no avail: the more he tries to refrain his partner, the more radical DiVinci gets. One of the plot's driving forces is precisely the worsening of the two men's relationships, with a more and more reluctant Tupac Shakur and a more and more freewheeling James Belushi, without the former managing to curb the latter's blind madness. The second main effective element lies in the parallel (and inexorable) worsening of the situation they find themselves in. As a matter of fact, DiVinci, who thinks he has a knack for finding ways out of bad situations invariably makes his mate and him jump out of the fire into the frying pan. The suspense does not lie in their desperate rushing along then – it is a recipe for disaster - but stems from the question 'how will DiVinci manage to make them sink even lower ?, Thrilling throughout, extremely well written, "Gang Related" is a superior crime movie – and with a moral viewpoint to crown it all. Nothing to do with Tarantino and his complacent displays of cynicism and sadistic violence. In 'Gang Related', the viewer is confronted from the beginning to the end to the question: are you ready to break the law in your everyday life and if so, where do you draw the line? But be reassured, nothing to do with boring lecturing either. Fun and surprise await you instead.

deaken Tupac Shakur's acting is absolutely superb!!! Shakur shines through even though he had the misfortune to be cast opposite the biggest let down of the movie.... *that joke* James Belushi.Belushi seems to be in a world of his own.But don't let that put you off because it's worth watching it for Shakur's extraordinary talent, and some of the support cast which carry Gang Related through! The story pulls you in emotionally as you find yourself caring.It's a shame that Shakur's chance to shine in future roles was cut short.

Andyboy_17 If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a huge fan of Rap-music, and that I consider Tupac Shakur as the greatest rapper of all time, chances are that I would have never taken my time to watch "Gang Related". In fact, I don't consider any of the films Tupac starred in as directly bad. "Poetic Justice" (1993), "Juice" (1991) and "Gridlock'd" (1996) are all films that I would recommend and consider as highly watchable. Now "Gang Related" was the only film he got the chance to star in, where he didn't play a criminal or a street-thug from the ghetto. In this film he actually plays a police officer... ...a corrupt one that is, though. Divinci (played by James Belushi) and Rodriguez (Tupac Shakur) are two cops who are dealing drugs, bribing and even murdering peoples when they're at work. Their formula is to sell drugs to naive buyers, then kill them and keep the money. This seems to work just fine until one of their victims turns out to be a undercover-police officer.Crime-movies like this isn't exactly my favorites, but I liked this one. Jim Kouf has written an interesting story with enough thrilling and surprises, and except for that part, the actors has to carry the film on their own. I haven't seen many films starring James Belushi, but this is the best performance I've seen by him. He fits the role as Divinci perfect, and really takes the film to a higher level. The chemistry between Belushi and Tupac is also working well. This was Tupac Shakur's last role before he passed, but it is not his best. It's a good performance, though he's being overshadowed by Belushi. Along with Ice Cube, Tupac was a rapper that really COULD act, unlike many of today's rappers who's mostly making a fool out of themselves, trying to act in movies. Lela Rochon (a beautiful woman who plays Divinci's friend Cynthia) and Dennis Quaid (who plays the bum Joe) are also giving some approved performances.Before watching "Gang Related" I had seen a few teasers, and it looked like an average crime-film to me. It may not be an extraordinary crime-film, but I sure found myself glued to the TV. As the first hour went by, it became very intense and thrilling. I'm not sure of what to think about the ending of the film, though. It was surprising and had a twist of ironic humor, but I kind of disliked it a little bit, for some reason. To me, it was ONE major flaw in this film: ***Spoilers Following*** During long parts of the film, Divinci and Rodriguez are discussing the murder case, while nobody knows that THEY are the murderers. They keep roaring, screaming and revealing things to each others in public places like at the police station.I think it's very illogical that NOBODY hears or notices them and reacts. ***End Of Spoilers***. I also have to say that I disliked the score, and I'm talking about that awful "main" theme, which is being played often through out the film. It doesn't fit the film and it's mood at all."Gang Related" is a good crime-film, with a well-written story and two good actors in the leading roles. It is not as bad as you may think at first, and it's well worth watching at least one time...not exactly the kind of film that's to be watched numerous times, anyway. Tupac Shakur's last film.May he Rest In Peace.8.0 out of 10

DunnDeeDaGreat Gang Related had me a bit exicted back in 97 it was the last movie performance of Tupac and he's the only good thing in this slow paced and somewhat predictable movie. James Belushi makes a horrible bad guy and Dennis Quaid is watsed. See this one just for Shakur's performance.