{{short description|1997 film directed by Jim Kouf}} {{other uses}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Gang Related | image = Gang related ver1.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Jim Kouf]] | producer = John Bertolli<br />[[Brad Krevoy]]<br />Steven Stabler | writer = Jim Kouf | starring = {{Plainlist| * [[Jim Belushi|James Belushi]] * [[Tupac Shakur]] * [[Lela Rochon]] * [[Dennis Quaid]] * [[James Earl Jones]] * [[David Paymer]] * [[Wendy Crewson]] * [[Gary Cole]] }} | music = [[Mickey Hart]] | cinematography = Brian J. Reynolds | editing = Todd C. Ramsay | studio = Kouf/Bigelow Productions<br>[[Orion Pictures]] | distributor = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM Distribution Co.]] | released = {{Film date|1997|10|08}} | runtime = 111 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = $5.9 million<ref name=auto>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gangrelated.htm|title=Gang Related (1997) - Box Office Mojo|website=Box Office Mojo|access-date=19 May 2019}}</ref> }} '''''Gang Related''''', alternatively known as '''''Criminal Intent''''',<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7f82fc9b|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215013353/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7f82fc9b|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 15, 2017|title=Gang Related (1997)|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|date=|accessdate=9 October 2021}}</ref> is a 1997 American [[Action film|action]] [[crime drama film]] written and directed by [[Jim Kouf]], and starring [[James Belushi]], [[Tupac Shakur]], [[Dennis Quaid]], [[Lela Rochon]], [[David Paymer]], and [[James Earl Jones]]. It follows two corrupt cops, attempting to frame a homeless man for the death of an undercover [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] agent that they killed. This was Shakur's final film appearance in prior to his death the previous year. The film was dedicated to his memory.
==Plot== Vice squad detectives Frank Divinci and Jake Rodriguez set up narcotics runner Lionel Hudd in a bogus [[Illegal drug trade|drug traffic]]king deal at a motel. They murder Hudd, pocket his money, and recover the [[cocaine]] he purchased from them. The detectives return both the cocaine and the murder weapon, a customized .44 magnum, to the evidence room at their headquarters. Shortly thereafter, Divinci and Rodriguez learn that Hudd was actually a [[Cover (intelligence gathering)|deep cover]] [[DEA]] agent...when Hudd's partner, Richard Simms, visits their precinct to investigate the agent's murder. The two detectives resolve to find someone they can frame for Hudd's death.
The detectives choose a homeless drunk named Joe Doe, and trick 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 selected to help [[Public Defender]] Elliot Goff represent McCall in court. At McCall's trial, he is shown to be innocent and released...while Webb is jailed for perjury.
Sitting in a car, Rodriguez records a conversation with Divinci in which the latter admits to killing Hudd and framing McCall. When he learns that Rodriguez has done this, he forces Rodriguez out of the car at gunpoint. Returning to his apartment, Rodriguez is confronted by his bookie Vic and his bodyguard, Mr. Cutlass Supreme, who murder Rodriguez over an outstanding gambling debt. Investigating Rodriguez's death, the police find the damaged tape of 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, where Doctor McCall learns of her shooting. Divinci arranges with local [[bail bondsman]] Manny Ladrew for a limousine ride to the airport. The driver turns out to be recently-acquitted serial killer Clyde David Dunner, whose own trial fell apart because ''his'' gun was used in the Hudd murder. Dunner shoots Divinci dead, then 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 (Frank's wife) * [[Lela Rochon]] as Cynthia Webb * [[Dennis Quaid]] as William McCall / Joe Doe * Tom Ormeny as Nathan McCall (William's brother) * [[James Earl Jones]] as Arthur Baylor, Attorney @ Law * [[David Paymer]] as Elliot Goff * [[Gary Cole]] as Agent Richard Simms, DEA * [[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 Agent Lionel Hudd, DEA * [[Robert LaSardo]] as Agent Sarkasian, DEA * Gregory Scott Cummins as Clyde David Dunner * [[Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr.]] as "Cutlass Supreme" * [[Perry Anzilotti]] as Vic, Jake's bookie
==Production== Kouf recalled in a 2018 interview where he got the inspiration for the film:{{blockquote| "I had done a few cop movies, like [[Stakeout (1987 film)|Stakeout]] and [[The Hidden (1987 film)|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".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2018/06/18/jim-kouf-interview/|title=Jim Kouf [Interview]|date=2018-06-18|website=trainwreckdsociety.com|access-date=2023-10-05}}</ref>}}
In a previous interview, Kouf said about Shakur:{{blockquote| "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".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/jim_kouf.htm|title=Jim Kouf [Interview]|date=2001-11-02|website=www.lukeford.net|access-date=2023-10-05}}</ref>}}
The film was shot in August 1996, a month before Shakur’s death and the film was released the next year.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19971010&slug=2565220 | title='Gang Related' Co-Stars Remember Tupac Shakur | the Seattle Times }}</ref>
==Reception== ''Gang Related'' opened with 1,260 theaters in North America on October 8, 1997. 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.<ref name=auto/>
The film received mixed reviews, and has the rating of 52% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 21 reviews.<ref>{{Citation|title=Gang Related (1997)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gang_related|language=en|access-date=2025-11-07}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gang Related Reviews |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/gang-related |access-date=December 1, 2022 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[Fandom, Inc.]]}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=CinemaScore |language=en-US |archive-date=2018-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102130540/https://www.cinemascore.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The film was released in the [[United Kingdom]] on August 14, 1998, and opened on #11.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.25thframe.co.uk/charts/chart.php?chart=19980814|title=Historical U.K. Weekend Box Office 14th August 1998 - 16th August 1998|publisher=www.25thframe.co.uk|access-date=3 August 2020}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] appraised the film more positively in an episode of ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|At the Movies]]'':
{{blockquote|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://siskelebert.org/?p=3133|title=Seven Years in Tibet, RocketMan, Boogie Nights, Gang Related, Washington Square, 1997|website=siskelebert.org|accessdate=May 15, 2021|archive-date=April 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411210350/https://siskelebert.org/?p=3133|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
About the film'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."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cannatechtoday.com/jim-belushi-tupac-cannabis-more/ | title=Jim Belushi Talks Tupac, Cannabis, and Sports Medicine | date=28 October 2019 }}</ref>
Kouf said about the film and Shakur: “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.“<ref>{{cite web|url=https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2018/06/18/jim-kouf-interview/ |title=Jim Kouf interview |date=June 18, 2018 |website=trainwreckdsociety.com}}</ref>
==Soundtrack== {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Title !colspan="2"| Chart positions !rowspan="2"| Certifications<br><small>([[Music recording sales certification|sales thresholds]])</small> |- ! <small>[[Billboard 200|U.S.]]</small> ! <small>[[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|U.S. R&B]]</small> |- |1997 |''[[Gang Related – The Soundtrack]]'' *Released: October 7, 1997 *Label: [[Death Row Records|Death Row]] |align="center"|2 |align="center"|1 | *[[Recording Industry Association of America|US]]: 2× Platinum |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0118900}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|gang_related}} * {{Mojo title|gangrelated}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20171215013353/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7f82fc9b ''Gang Related (1997)''] at the [[British Film Institute]]{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
{{Jim Kouf}}
[[Category:American crime thriller films]] [[Category:1997 crime thriller films]] [[Category:1990s legal thriller films]] [[Category:1990s mystery thriller films]] [[Category:1997 films]] [[Category:American mystery thriller films]] [[Category:American courtroom films]] [[Category:American legal films]] [[Category:American gang films]] [[Category:Films set in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Orion Pictures films]] [[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]] [[Category:1997 English-language films]] [[Category:Films directed by Jim Kouf]] [[Category:Films with screenplays by Jim Kouf]] [[Category:1997 American films]] [[Category:English-language crime thriller films]] [[Category:English-language mystery thriller films]]