#blake anderson

Starring Shameik Moore, Chanel Iman, Zoë Kravitz, Blake Anderson, and A$AP Rocky.

Directed by Rick Famuyiwa

Malcolm (Moore) lives in “The Bottoms,” the slum of Inglewood, CA, with his best friends Jib and Diggy. Malcolm tries to lay low and get good grades, ultimately aspiring to attend Harvard. His status quo is turned over on itself when Malcolm and his friends decide to attend gang member Dom’s (Rocky) birthday party to try and get closer to Nakia (Kravitz), Malcolm’s dream girl. But the party is busted, and Malcolm and his friends are stuck with a backpack full of MDMA. In an unsettling twist, Malcolm’s Harvard interviewer is the drug supplier and refuses to put a good word in until the MDMA is completely sold. Faced with a difficult decision, Malcolm must do what he never expected to achieve his dreams.

Famuyiwa (dir) shows how easily one gets caught up in the cycle of crime and hardship in The Bottoms. Without institutionalized purpose and drive, Inglewood’s shoddiest neighborhood is full of examples of wasted potential. The college counseling department is apathetic and unhelpful, signifying how difficult it is for one to move on to bigger things. As a matter of fact, many of the film’s ensemble demonstrate their intelligence, yet never live up to greater things. One particular conversation between rappers Tyga and A$AP Rocky’s characters about the Obama administration highlight their analytic skills, yet the two only amount to a lives of drugs and organized crime. It is almost impossible escape the gang lifestyle. In the opening sequence, Malcolm illustrates how those who avoid involvement in organized crime are ostracized and harassed. Also, quite ironically, in order to get a positive Harvard recommendation (essentially, his ticket out of the Bottoms), Malcolm must deal drugs himself. In his attempts to avoid a fate of organized crime, he gets more caught up in gang business than he could have imagined  

Dope also makes an effort to comment on racial issues. Racial disparities and tensions are brought up early on when the narrator explains that Malcolm and his friends are disliked for embracing “white shit” including high academic achievement and skateboarding. Instead of resenting his relationship with the rest of the black community, Malcolm accepts it, explaining to Nakia that he’s “just not one of those n—as.” At the same time, Malcolm, Jib, and Diggy are fiercely proud of their race and heritage. When their white friend Will Sherwood (Anderson) insists on using the n-word, they all fight back, illustrating how they haven’t given in to “white culture.” At the film’s closing, Malcolm recites his college admissions essay. He touches on how he is perceived as a geek by his peers and, as a black man from a bad neighborhood, a thug by outsiders, so he never totally fits in. The essays last line, “if I was white, would you even have to ask me that question?” is a meaningful closing to the film’s study of race issues.

Dope is through and through a new take on a classic coming of age story. Perhaps the most important element of them film is Malcolm’s personal development. In all possible ways, he is faced with challenges that force him to grow up fast. On one level, he’s maturing sexually. His attraction to both Lily (Iman) and Nakia present him with new opportunities. Malcolm also grows socially. He not only attends parties for the first time but is faced with popularity and status. He becomes bolder, standing up to more of his past fears to get what he wants. A money launderer has the cash Malcolm needs to appease Jacoby. When he stands in his way, Malcolm hits him, and the launderer exclaims, “Now I know who you are. A man who does not give a fuck.“ Previously overly-cautious Malcolm has risen to the alpha-male.

I was overall pleased with this movie. Like some other movies I’ve checked out recently (see Tangerine), it represents a new wave of film geared to the modern younger generation. In Dope, this is perhaps best illustrated by a cast full of popular rappers. I liked the fresh take on a coming of age adventure, and would recommend this film to any young person.

18/20