You might not know Shameik Moore yet, but you will.
He’s not the only reason why I was grabbed by this movie: the script is smart, the soundtrack is awesomesauce, and the angle is fresh. But Moore, unknown to me, turns in an A+ performance while writer-director Rick Famuyiwa is making choices I’m quickly becoming addicted to.
The story: Malcolm is a good student in a bad school, a good kid in a bad neighbourhood. He dreams of Harvard and 90s hip hop but on his way to his admissions interview he winds up with a bookbag full of dope. He’s got two friends, Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) and Jib (Tony Revolori – the little bellhop from The Grand Budapest Hotel), and though this charming trio is made up of teacher’s pets and band geeks, they resolve to navigate the dark web and treat their reluctant drug dealing like a 21st century enterprise.
This movie is tonally inconsistent, but it’s not because the film doesn’t know what it is, it’s because it aims to be a bit of everything, and I kind of liked that about it. Famuyiwa means to challenge our notion of what a drug dealer looks like – or what a Harvard applicant looks like, for that matter, but even the film itself defies expectations. It manages to seamlessly integrate these 90s throwbacks into a world where these kids have never bought nor owned a CD. They idolize rap but they play in a punk band. Welcome to 2015. Pharrell Williams and Sean (Diddy) Combs are listed as producers, so you know that shit is solid.
The cast is exceptionally good, and you need them to be to make this story work. Comedy-drama-crime: the film covers a lot of ground, but at its heart it’s an identity crisis, an acknowledgement of our many selves. Famuyiwa is not a newbie but this is his first film where I feel like I actually know him. You can’t infuse a script with this many pop culture references and not reveal yourself. Famuyiwa, I think I’m on to you.
It sounds like a movie worth watching. I hadn’t heard the name Shameik Moore before, but from what you say, he might be becoming much more famous any day now.
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Arggh I’ve been meaning to watch Dope for ages now. This might just be the kick I needed. Also, I had no idea the bellhop from Grand Budapest Hotel was one of the trio, that’s amazing!
– Allie
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Yeah, it took me a good 20 minutes to place him. He looks different without the little hat 😉 (or the tiny mustache, for that matter)
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I have a friend who saw this and said it was really good too. Will have to check it out at some point.
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How the hell did I miss this one?! Thanks for reminding me :3 Sounds awesome !!
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Yeah, I wasn’t expecting too much but I kind of liked it from the very beginning!
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Awesome! I’m waiting for this darn exam season to end and then I’ll get right to it! :3
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I think this one came and went already in the theaters near me. Maybe not. Nice to know more about it though.
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I might do this one, I can always turn the hip hop down 🙂
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I saw this one!! 😀
I liked it because it surprised me, it wasn’t predictable 🙂
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Yes, I thought so too! Glad to hear you were able to catch it.
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It sounds like a good movie but….I just hate, I mean Hate Rap crap. There are very few songs (??) that I would listen to. The story line sounds good
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I liked this when I saw it in theaters this summer. I agree the tone is inconsistent, especially in the last 20 minutes or so, but definitely still worth seeing.
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Yeah, I felt a little weird about how they wrapped things up in the end – a bit preachy, and a little out of place.
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Unfortunately the inconsistent tone really, really annoyed me. I couldn’t feel the it wanted to have a bit of everything and more that it couldn’t make up its mind over what it wanted it to be
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I’ve wondered about this one, Jay. You’ve sold me!
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I just sold you dope!
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Haha! When I’ve had my fix, I’ll call again! 😉
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since I can’t get these movies here, it’s good that I have you!!!
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