Day 19 — Dope (2015)
*And yes, it was dope!
Writer/Director → Rick Famuyiwa
Studio → Open Road Films
Genre → Comedy, Crime, Drama
Teenage dreaming and endless blunders are endemic to the indie -coming of age — story told in Dope (2015).
Dope follows Malcolm(Shameik Moore), a 90’s hip-hop enthusiast who spends his days chilling with punk band mates, Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons). Malcolm dreams of bygone ghetto culture and aspires for more then just surviving his rough L.A. neighbourhood.
We know Malcolm is a geek but he is also a smart one and with his straight A status he plans to go to Harvard. To date though, he hasn’t really been playing the admission game right and despite his intelligence we get the idea he is NOT quite Harvard material.
Malcolm doesn’t realise this and his sole drivers are his desire to:
- survive; and
- attend to his high libido.
The result is Malcolm & Co. attending an underground party and becoming involved in the neighbourhoods prolific drug empire. This is where the movie gets FUN as it balances the very real risk of death, or imprisonment, alongside idyllic dreaming of an IVY league education.
It is an interesting perspective and questions why, when the issue of life vs death is on the table, we are even considering Malcolm’s aim to go to Harvard. Malcolm’s view on the subject? Is perfectly surmised by:
“ If I was white, would you even have to ask me the question?”
In order to survive Malcolm must move beyond his textbooks and rely on street smarts, social networks and calculated risks.
*Essentially his survival depends on understanding the world at large and his place in it.
Luckily Malcolm does survive and with it he gains the timely, mature, perspective of the “value” he alone can offer the world (+ Harvard).
Famuyiwa has shot the film in the style of a John Hughes movie i.e. “ The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles”
It is the idea everything is so important when you’re a teenager and you just don’t have any choice but to live.
Similar to Hughes films, the idea of choice is well conveyed in Dope. -
Austin Jacoby : And why did you do it?
Malcolm: I didn’t have a choice.
Austin Jacoby: Oh, come on, Malcolm. Come on. You always have a choice. You could have done a lot of things with that package. You’re a smart kid. I’m sure
you thought about all of them. But you chose to make the delivery for this Dom person… because you thought it was, what, in your best interest?
So, you should take responsibility…for the choice that you’ve made …— — Conversation between Malcolm and Harvard Alumni, Austin Jacoby.
Thanks to this dialogue and Malcolm's final admission video we are empowered to know he has come of age and now realises the gravity of making the RIGHT choices — or excepting the consequences.
Malcolm’s friends and various other characters introduced are entertaining yet superfluous — but that is their point.
Every character is perfectly placed to create the illusion of the enormity of now to the teenage mindset.
However, as we know Malcolm is set for greatness we also know the subsequent price — increasing distance from his past.
Fortunately, Famuyiwa has allowed us to detach from Jib and Diggy through their limited character development.
The final feature I was impressed with is the soundtrack.
Pharrell wrote four of Malcolm’s band, Oreo’s, songs as well as supervising a large chunk of the score. The result is this fast paced treat that weaves an upper/downer symbiotic vibe to perfectly coincide with the drug filled narrative.
Ultimately Dope is a high charged new look at the tired coming of age genre.
I give it 78/100 perfect goddamn bottoms (*I’m looking at you Chanel Iman!)
Highlights:
- The displayed arrogance of youth.
- The message you can’t achieve anything in life until you understand yourself.
- The cheesy vibes mixed in with a fundamental realism to convey teenage life realities in a poor American suburb.
- The juxtaposition between arousal and disgust —*great vomit scene.
- The soundtrack.
Lowlights:
- The tired display of the ‘genius’ druggie.
