Movie Review: Dope

Every January, The Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah becomes the center of attention for the film industry as independent films are screened in competition and subsequently bid on by studios for distribution rights. Rick Famuyiwa's (The Wood, Brown Sugar) coming-of-age comedy Dope was one of the most buzzed about films at this year's festival, inciting a bidding war between a number of Hollywood studios (mid-level distributor Open Road Films ultimately won out.) Five months after its premiere, Dope has become one of the first films from the festival to open in theaters and it sets the bar incredibly high for the rest of the Sundance acquisitions slated for release this year. 

Dope weaves the tale of high school seniors Malcolm (Shameik Moore), Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) who live in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles. Malcolm, Jib and Diggy don't really fit in with their counterparts in Inglewood as they're more focused on "white shit" like 90's hip-hop and punk culture, skateboarding and doing well in school than the gang-banging and drug-dealing that consumes a majority of their neighborhood. However, the trio of geeks lives get dragged into the world they've worked so hard to avoid once a drug dealer (A$AP Rocky) stashes a large shipment of molly in Malcolm's backpack after the cops break up his birthday party at a local nightclub. After being intimidated by the drug supplier (Roger Guenveur Smith), Malcolm and his friends are forced to sell the contraband so they can stay alive and go onto pursue their dreams of attending college and getting out of the hood for good.

A slew of coming-of-age films are released every year, but few are as inventive or effective as Dope.  Famuyima's script is loaded with brilliant one-liners and laugh-out-loud situations for the main characters to get into. Even when the film's narrative hits some snags in the second act, Famuyima's ability to fill every conversation in the film with clever, natural dialogue prevents the film from losing any traction. Famuyima also did an excellent job of assembling a pitch-perfect cast of largely unknown actors. Moore, Revolori and Clemons possess a tremendous chemistry as a collective and all demonstrate that they have the chops to have long, successful careers in the industry while the supporting cast- headlined by Workaholics'  Blake Anderson and Divergent's Zoe Kravitz- is loaded with scene-stealers who make a serious impression in very little time on screen.

While Dope is largely a breezy, engrossing comedic affair, there's also some sharp and incredibly timely messages amidst the sea of jokes. The film's commentary on how society views people from the inner city is painstakingly relevant. Although the narrative is clearly a bit over-the-top at times, the film's goal of showing that black kids from the inner city can be every bit smart as anyone else in the world and deserve the same opportunities as their suburban counterparts is very-well executed and poignant. In the middle of one of the most lackluster summer blockbuster seasons in recent memory, Dope is an under-the-radar gem that deserves to be a smash hit.

4.5/5 Stars