Gridlock'd

Tim Roth and Tupac Shakur make an oddly dynamic duo as junkie musicians desperate to enter detox in Gridlock'd. Their darkly comic quest begins with a crawl through the mazelike welfare system and ends up at a dead run, with cops and dope dealers chasing them down the mean streets of Detroit. Released last winter with little fanfare, this writing-directing debut by Chicago Hope's Vondie Curtis Hall has the raw, rude vibrance to be a video cult hit. Still, it's best appreciated for the stars' performances: Roth's live-wire deadbeat gives the film its charge; Shakur's deeper thinker provides its center and soul. The late rapper was a riveting screen presence. His could have been a brilliant career. B+