Review: Dope

Dope is a vibrant film featuring a fresh character unseen in any movie before. It is also a kitchen sink type film with a little bit of everything thrown into it. Dope wants to be a lot of things all at once. When the film is focused on main character Malcolm, Dope is stunning. However, too often the film gets caught up in shootouts and chases that don't feel as well designed.

Dope is equal parts Boyz in the Hood, License to Drive, Ferris Bueler's Day Off and True Romance. It has so many dizzying flavors in it that first time director Rick Famuyiwa doesn't know how to balance each one. Centering the film though is a breakout performance from Shameik Moore. Moore brings a face and vibe completely his own and unlike any young actor out there. Malcolm is a nerd trapped in the hood and Moore embodies the character with honesty.

Malcolm and his pals Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons)are obsessed with 90's hip hop culture and spend most of their high school lives trying to avoid trouble. Trouble comes from the typical high school treatment of nerds but also in the form of Dom, (A$AP Rocky) a drug dealer who involves Malcolm in a drug deal gone wrong.

That drug deal propels Malcolm and his pals all around the city, wheeling and dealing and trying to stay alive. It is here where the film loses some of its punch. The high school life and the interaction of Malcolm and his friends is vibrant, new territory not seen in many films. The rest feels like it was pulled from a bad 80's film about gang drug deals gone wrong.

In the end, we are to believe Malcolm orchestrates a rather complex con on some rather well established criminals. The film never lets us see this con, we just have to accept it. This undermines what makes Malcolm such a striking character. His charm and wit get us on his side and him out of plenty of jams. Then the movie makes this jump into something more akin to a Corey Feldman film. It all feels a bit cheap in light of such a wonderful performance. Ultimately Dope is a fun film that bring attention to a life we don't see often but it sidesteps greatness in favor of convenient plotting.

3.5/5