Director: Rick Famuyiwa Starring: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, A$AP ROCKY, Tyga, Zoë Kravitz, Forest Whitaker Writer: Rick Famuyiwa | 4/5 Dope If ever there was a film born of the styles of Spike Lee and John Hughes, this is it. Dope, the latest film from The Wood director Rick Famuyiwa, zings and winds its way through its plot in a swirl of speed and chaos that would make Bueller proud. Hughes may be known for a long chain of successful teen films that largely avoided much color, but Famuyima sure does not make that mistake. Dope dives us into the urban street life culture better than most movies being released. Sure, there are your “hood” staples, and everything is delivered in a cartoonish daze, but the director finds ways to twist our perceptions and make us see a largely-stereotyped way of life from a different angle - hence, Spike Lee. The story follows Malcolm (Shameik Moore), an out-of-place hipster in a sea of Bloods and Crypts. He’s into “white people stuff”: skateboards, making good grades, college. He even has a punk band with his two best friends, Jib (Grand Budapest’s Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons). Like The Spectacular Now and a thousand high school flicks that preceded it, Dope is framed around Malcolm attempting to nail down his college application. His first draft was an in-depth break down of Ice Cube, but his teacher (Bruce Beatty) does not think it’s personal enough. |
What better way to come to terms with your identity than to accidentally stumble into your own drug dealing business? That’s the setup Famuyima places us in and it’s a glorious one. After local alpha male Dom (A$AP ROCKY) fills Malcolm’s bag with party drugs at a birthday party gone wrong, the young, black punk must maneuver himself through a maze of killer dealers, crooked businessmen, and privileged troublemakers, all while trying to impress his crush (Zoë Kravitz) and make it home in one piece every night.
The plot, while tons of energetic fun, pretty much goes where you expect it to, punctuated in the end by a reading of his revelatory, completed college application essay. Dope has some issues, but it prods at your brain, is aesthetically pleasing, and tickles your funny bone enough to make it more than worth the cost of admission. If for no other reason to see Workaholics’ Blake Anderson beg to use the N-word - he means it as a term of endearment, he pleads - without being smacked, make the time to see Dope.
The plot, while tons of energetic fun, pretty much goes where you expect it to, punctuated in the end by a reading of his revelatory, completed college application essay. Dope has some issues, but it prods at your brain, is aesthetically pleasing, and tickles your funny bone enough to make it more than worth the cost of admission. If for no other reason to see Workaholics’ Blake Anderson beg to use the N-word - he means it as a term of endearment, he pleads - without being smacked, make the time to see Dope.