Bullet Points: Gridlocked

Trish Stratus’ feature film debut in 2011’s Bounty Hunters was enough to convince me that the Toronto born beauty could be just as successful in the world of action entertainment as she was in the world of sports entertainment.

When news broke that Trish Stratus would be in Gridlocked along side action movie veterans Danny Glover, Stephen Lang and Dominic Purcell, I was pumped and started counting down the days until I could check the movie out.

• Introducing Brody Walker: Our movie begins with an Access Hollywood like look at movie star bad boy, Brody Walker (Cody Hackman). Walker is like the Johnny Manziel of Hollywood, getting into trouble over and over again. His most recent and most egregious lapse in judgment… attacking a paparazzo who was trying to warn him about getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. This has Brody in hot water with not only the law but with the big movie studio who was about to sign him for a huge movie role. His life and his career are in jeopardy, but fortunately for him his lawyer and his agent (played by Saul Rubinek of Death Wish V fame) arrange for their client to do some community service and shadow members of law enforcement… and who is the lucky cop that gets to babysit the movie star bad boy, David Hendrix (Dominic Purcell).

• The Odd Couple: As you may imagine Hendrix and Walker don’t exactly hit it off. But Hendrix is a good soldier and does his job, even though Walker is making his life miserable. Walker opens up to Hendrix, confessing that if he screws this up he’s done. Walker is also very gung ho about getting to see some more police action and has no desire to spend another day of Hendrix busting crack dealers and drug users. Hendrix wanting to help the guy out takes him to a high security facility where the police’s elite Strategic Response Team trains and hones their skills. Hendrix, prior to an incident that put him back on the streets busting meth heads, was the leader of the SRT.

• The Evil Plot: John Korver (Stephen Lang of Fire Down Below fame) is the leader of an elite military unit that specializes in doing the U.S. Government’s dirtiest of jobs. Over the years Korver and his crew have gone further and further into the darkness and have also developed a sense of entitlement. Korver hatches a highly orchestrated scheme with his men and some hired mercenaries to retrieve some valuable bonds as compensation for all the sacrifices his team has made over the years. As movie luck would have it, these bonds (and other seized assets) are stored in a secret room located in the Strategic Response Team’s training facility. Korver had the whole scheme laid out perfectly… but what he did not anticipate is that Hendrix and the SRT team would be on site in the wee hours of the morning when this whole operation was going down. This sets up two highly trained teams going head to head with millions and millions of dollars and their lives on the line.

• The Cast: Gridlocked nailed it with every casting decision they made… Dominic Purcell was excellent in the role of the grizzled David Hendrix. There was no question Hendrix was the alpha dog in Gridlocked and even though he may not have officially been their leader anymore, he had the respect of everyone on the SRT… The SRT had great chemistry, with Trish Stratus as Gina, James A. Woods as Jason and Steve Byers as the newest member of the team, Scott. At first I was a little disappointed because it felt like Trish was going to be relegated to the background and simply be the obligatory female member of the team, but as the movie progressed I was happily proven wrong… Danny Glover plays Sully, one of the security guards at the SRT training facility. Glover was fantastic and his mere presence gave the movie a much bigger feel…  Stephen Lang was easy to hate as the cold blooded Korver. Lang just looks like a guy who could actually orchestrate such an elaborate plot to get rich… Who better to play Korver’s right hand man and muscle than action movie vet, Vinnie Jones!?! Jones has the over the top personality and the physicality to be the perfect goon… And the guy who really steals the show is Cody Hackman. Hackman’s Brody Walker may be the most lovable douche bag in action movie history.

• The Action: I was prepared for some heavy duty action when I sat down to view Gridlocked and I was not disappointed. What did surprise me to a degree was some of the more graphic and gruesome deaths and injuries that occur during the course of the film. Some of it was borderline horror genre stuff, but that enhanced the whole experience for me and really upped the intensity factor.

Admittedly the initial reason I decided to watch Gridlocked was for some Stratusfaction and while I got that, I also got much more. Gridlocked is an action movie lovers dream come true. You combine a great cast with great action and you’ve got yourself a winner. And Gridlocked is a winner in my book. You should do yourself a favor and check it out.

And while I have zero complaints about the film,  I do have a three Bonus Gridlocked Bullet Points…

• Memorable Quote: “I knew I was getting too old for this sh*t.” – Sully
• If You Ever: …wanted to see an obnoxious Hollywood star have a jar of piss poured down his throat, then this is the movie for you.
• That’s My Jam: Among the pleasant surprises in Gridlocked was the inclusion of the Tone Loc hit, “Funky Cold Medina”.