Gang Related

Gang Related, alternatively known as Criminal Intent, is a 1997 American action crime thriller film written and directed by Jim Kouf, and starring James Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Dennis Quaid, Lela Rochon, David Paymer and James Earl Jones. The film revolves around two corrupt cops (Belushi and Shakur) who attempt to frame a homeless man (Quaid) for the murder of an undercover DEA agent that they themselves had actually killed.

Synopsis
Vice squad detectives Frank Divinci and Jake Rodriguez set up narcotics runner Lionel Hudd in a bogus drug trafficking deal; they execute Hudd and pocket his money. Having recovered the cocaine Hudd purchased from them, the detectives return that to the evidence room at their headquarters. When Divinci and Rodriguez find out Hudd was actually a "deep cover" DEA agent — because Hudd's partner, Richard Simms, drops by their precinct for help sniffing out the killers — they resolve to pin the murder on any likely suspect they can find.

The detectives finally frame a homeless drunk named "Joe Doe", by tricking him into confessing to the crime. Needing a witness, Divinci and Rodriguez press stripper Cynthia Webb — with whom Divinci has been cheating on his wife — into picking Joe out of a police lineup. It turns out Joe is actually William Dane McCall, a physician hailing from a wealthy family, who has been missing and presumed dead for years; the family's lawyer, Arthur Baylor, is brought in to defend him. At McCall's trial, he is promptly shown to be innocent. The case falls apart and McCall is released.

Rodriguez records a conversation with Divinci in which the latter admits to Hudd's killing and McCall's setup. In response, Divinci forces Rodriguez out of the car at gunpoint. Returning to his apartment, Rodriguez is met by his bookie Vic, and by Vic's bodyguard, "Mr. Cutlass Supreme". They murder Rodriguez over an outstanding gambling debt. Investigating Rodriguez's death, the police find the damaged tape which contains Divinci's confession. Baylor questions Webb about Hudd's murder, playing back the plan by Divinci to kill her as a loose end. Webb tells Baylor everything she knows about Divinci's crimes. Divinci hides out in Webb's apartment and shoots her for betraying him. Webb is rushed to the hospital; her gurney is wheeled past Doctor McCall. Divinci arranges for a limousine ride to the airport. The driver is revealed to be recently-acquitted serial killer Clyde David Dunner, who murders Divinci and abandons the limousine in an alley.

Cast

 * James Belushi as Detective Franklin "Frank" Divinci
 * Tupac Shakur as Detective Jacob "Jake" Rodriguez
 * James Handy as Captain Henderson
 * Deborah Rennard as Caroline Divinci
 * Lela Rochon as Cynthia Webb
 * Dennis Quaid as William McCall / Joe Doe
 * Tom Ormeny as Nathan McCall
 * James Earl Jones as Arthur Baylor
 * David Paymer as Elliot Goff
 * Gary Cole as DEA Agent Richard Simms
 * Wendy Crewson as District Attorney Helen Eden
 * Terrence C. Carson as Manny Ladrew
 * Brad Greenquist as Assistant District Attorney Richard Stein
 * Kool Moe Dee as DEA Agent Lionel Hudd
 * Robert LaSardo as DEA Agent Sarkasian
 * Gregory Scott Cummins as Clyde David Dunner
 * Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. as "Cutlass Supreme"
 * Perry Anzilotti as Vic, The Bookie

Production
Writer/director Jim Kouf recalled in a 2018 interview where he got the inspiration for the film:"'I had done a few cop movies, like Stakeout and The Hidden, and the cops were the good guys. I was toying with the idea of reality and memory and how they can be manipulated. And crime is where reality and memory are always tested. I think of Gang Related as grim farce. It’s about a couple cops who think they have a handle on how to clean up the streets by taking down drug dealers, making a little profit on the side, and blaming it on a 'gang related' murder'."

In a previous interview, Kouf had discussed working with Tupac Shakur:"'He was a talented guy and knew what he was doing on set. I heard a lot of nightmare stories about him going on but I never had any problems with him'."

The film was shot over a period of a month in August 1996 and wrapped filming just two weeks before Tupac Shakur’s death on September 13, 1996. It marked his final film appearance and would be released a year after his death.

Reception
Gang Related opened in North America on October 8, 1997 in 1,260 theaters. It made $2,443,237 on its opening weekend with an average of $1,939 per theater, ranking at No. 10 at the box office. The film ended up earning $5,906,773.

The film received mixed reviews, and has the rating of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4 out of 10. On Metacritic — which assigns a weighted mean score — the film has a score of 49 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on August 14, 1998, and opened on #11. Roger Ebert appraised the film more positively in an episode of At the Movies:

"The screenplay shows a lot of nerve in making the central characters into villains. We identify, I think, with them anyway to a degree, maybe because they trigger our own built-in guilt. The dialogue crackles with life and energy. There are a lot of colorful characters. My only complaint is that the ending is a little too neat after everything that's gone before. This movie is good enough to deserve a better ending."

About the movie's reception and box office results, Jim Belushi said: "Right around that time, when that movie came out, there was a gang related shooting at a movie theater in Los Angeles. That just ruined the opening of that movie. Everyone was afraid to go to the movie theatre, especially with the title Gang Related. Nobody went. Regardless, it’s become kind of a cult film since its release."

Director Jim Kouf is very fond of the movie and praised Tupac Shakur’s performance: “Tupac was great to work with. He really wanted acting to be his way out of the music world, which was controlling his life at the time. He was also going to score the movie, but was killed 10 days after we finished shooting. He was a great guy. We had a lot of fun on set. And Gang Related had one of the best casts I’ve ever worked with.“