"Dope" Review

Dope is one of the year's best surprises: a hip-hop fueled comedy with the wanderer's spirit of O Brother, Where Are Thou? and the bite of Do The Right Thing. Premiering in January at the Sundance Festival, the movie's garnered a fair amount of buzz for its pairing of 90's pop culture and modern technology, devil-may-care tone, and skillful writing. Dope oozes 'cool'.

Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is a nerd, with straight A's, a love of computers, and dreams of a Harvard acceptance letter. He's also a geek on a nostalgia kick, specifically with the 90's; he listens to Nas and A Tribe Called Quest on his Walkman, wears bright fluorescent shirts and retro Jordans, and tops it off with one of the freshest Flattops I've ever seen. His style may clash with the other kids, but with best friends Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) and Jib (Tony Revolori of Grand Budapest Hotel fame) by his side, Malcolm navigates his tough Inglewood, California neighborhood - nicknamed "The Bottoms" - dodging all manner of threats, from bullies to gangsters and drug dealers.

(from left to right) Jib, Diggy, and Malcolm

Some days are harder than others; after being stopped by dope peddler Dom (A$ap Rocky), Malcolm is told to send a message to Nakia (Zoë Kravitz), inviting her to Dom's birthday party that night. Malcolm and Nakia hit it off; she says she'll go only if he does. At the party, Malcolm, Diggy, and Jib enjoy the festivities, bun when the cops raid the club, a gunfight breaks and everyone rushes to get out. At school the next day, Malcolm is stunned to find in his backpack a gun and several bags of ecstasy. The rest of the movie sees him scrambling to get rid of the contraband, in a slippery slope of crazy events with equally crazy characters, including donut-loving gangsters, a drop-dead gorgeous siren, and a hacker who's possibly stoned more than he is sober.

Dope is, in essence a John Hughes movie soaked in hip-hop bombast. The photography has a 90's vibe, like Tarantino meets a Biggie Smalls music video. However, the movie takes advantage of its modern day setting, showing the events of a party through Twitter statuses and YouTube videos. While in other movies, these moments can feel gimmicky, here, they're balanced well, used for comic effect. The film doesn't shy away from harsh language or violence, but mixes them with levity and dark wit. It's not comedy for shock's sake; in this environment, it makes sense for one to approach difficult situations with humor as a coping mechanism.

Shameik Moore is a strong leading man; he completely sells me on his intelligence and resourcefulness, while also portraying the naivete of a teenager. Kiersey Collins cracks me up; Diggy's sarcasm and sharp tongue makes for some of the movie's funniest moments. Blake Anderson from Workaholics plays Will, a black market dealer and hacker; here his scatterbrained, awkward humor brings more than a few smiles to my face. Surprisingly, I enjoyed A$ap Rocky as Dom. He plays the role naturally, able to bounce effortlessly from causal conversation about the state of nostalgic hip-hop to frustration with a deal gone wrong to intimidation when threatening a bouncer. I hope this isn't a one-off for A$ap; he has charisma and shows promise as an actor. 

Director Rick Famuyiwa has created an ambiguous film. From the opening title card, which showcases multiple definitions for "dope", with both positive and negative connotations, Famuyiwa suggests we should analyze the following characters and events with open-mindedness. The film will sometimes show an event, and rewind (literally, at one point) to play it back, but shown from a different point of view, a different context. Not only does this fill the gaps between plot and subplot, but Famuyiwa will use this technique to flip the script, lead us emotionally.

Malcolm's main conflict (outside of you know, DRUGS) is with his sense of identity, particularly his racial and cultural identity. Here, race is so strictly tied to culture, that any interests which lies outside of the cultural norm implies a lack of Blackness. Surely, this nerd who enjoys Game of Thrones and plays in a punk rock band can't equally enjoy Young Jeezy.

This clash of interests can be trivial, but as Malcolm goes down a laundry list of what's considered to be "White shit", he ends with "getting good grades". Dope addresses the inferiority complex felt, not only in the Black community, but in lower-class neighborhoods as well. Malcolm's Harvard aspirations are scoffed at, his desire to eschew the "smart kid, single mom, bad neighborhood" narrative in favor of an essay focused solely on his merits is labeled as "arrogant" by a teacher (Bruce Beatty). Famuyiwa sets up the conversation well, and though the movie sympathizes with Malcolm, it's hard to distance oneself from the safety and comfort of realistic expectations. 

But perhaps, that's the attitude that needs to change. Dope is about risk, about accepting and loving the quirks and intricacies of one's personality, not settling for mediocrity because of the deal one's been handed in life. It's intelligent, hysterical, and motivational, all while sending a love letter to 90's hip-hop culture: definitely worth a watch.

Thank you all for reading; I'm the Man Without a Plan, signing off.