Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: GRIDLOCKED

By Mark Saldana

Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars)

As a fan of 80s and 90s action movies, I had an absolute blast with this movie.  Fans of that era/genre will no doubt love this movie and all that it has to offer.  The film stars Dominic Purcell as David Hendrix, a hardcore, highly skilled detective forced to assist Hollywood actor Brody Walker (Cody Hackman) with his court-mandated sentence.  After a recent run-in with law, Walker has been sentenced to ride along with a police officer instead of doing real time in prison.  The gruff, no-nonsense Hendrix and the smart-ass, wise cracking Walker definitely butt heads, but are forced to put their differences aside when a criminal attack occurs at a police station.

This highly lovable throwback by writer/director Allan Ungar, who co-wrote the film with Rob Robol, wears its obvious influences on its sleeves, but has enough original and modern charms of its own.  The film may deliver plenty of laughs, but the violence and action does get gruesome and realistic.  Still, Ungar and Robol do great work in balancing the two, though a small amount of the jokes fell flat for me.  The movie boasts an amazing cast in addition to Purcell and Hackman which includes Stephen Lang, Trish Stratus, Danny Glover, Vinnie Jones, and Saul Rubinek.  If my positive review still hasn’t persuaded anyone to seek it out, three words: Funky Cold Medina!

Leave a comment