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Gang Related
After murdering an undercover DEA agent, two corrupt cops scramble to cover up what they've done.
1997 · Directed by Jim Kouf · 111 min · Action · Crime · Thriller · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 4 frames
Tagline
The best place to hide is behind a badge.
Plot
Vice squad detectives Frank Divinci and Jake Rodriguez set up narcotics runner Lionel Hudd in a bogus drug trafficking 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 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.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Jim Kouf
- Cinematography: Brian J. Reynolds
- Edited by: Todd C. Ramsay
- Music: Mickey Hart
- Production design: Charles William Breen
- Produced by: Brad Krevoy, Steven Stabler, John Bertolli
Cast
- Jim Belushi as Detective Frank K Divinci
- Tupac Shakur as Detective Rodriguez
- Lela Rochon as Cynthia Webb
- Dennis Quaid as Joe Doe / William
- James Earl Jones as Arthur Baylor
- Gary Cole as Richard Simms
- Terrence 'T.C.' Carson as Manny Landrew
- Wendy Crewson as Helen Eden
- Kool Moe Dee as Lionel Hudd
- Reggie Miller as Self
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Orion Pictures, Kouf/Bigelow Productions, Blue Rider Pictures
- Themes: detective, surgeon, stripper, murder, brutality, buddy
On this film
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