A funny thing happened while leaving Inglewood

Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons and Shameik Moore in a scene from "Dope." Image courtesy Open Road Films

“Dope” is a film about falling back into the comfort of retro culture, except when it indulges in the pleasures of 21st Century technology. It's a film about the tragedy of street violence and the difficulties growing up in that environment, except when it swerves into comedy both physical and vulgar in nature. It's a movie steeped in neighborhood realism, except when it veers off toward a Wile E. Coyote-esque chase sequence through Inglewood.

All of that is to say “Dope” is a complex film, one that sheds the categorizations its protagonists define themselves by. It has a lot to say about black culture, the white appropriation of black culture, sexuality, economics, the American Dream and violence. It has perhaps too much to say to maintain a smooth and clean pacing, but”Dope” always expresses itself wit, smarts, a deft touch, and a killer soundtrack.

                                                              For example. 

“Dope” is a film divided at its simply by levels, the top of which is the simple story of three teenagers in Inglewood, Calif.: Malcolm (Shameik Moore, rocking a hi-top fade), Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) and Jib (Tony Revolori). They're self-proclaimed geeks, a smart group of friends who listen to 1990s-era rap, go old school with their sartorial choices, play in a punk band, ogle girls (mostly Zoë Kravitz), study to get into college – Moore's aiming for Harvard – and try very, very hard to stay out of trouble.

Level two is when that last part falls asunder when Moore agrees to do a small favor for local drug dealer Dom (rapper A$asp Rocky) that results in a disturbing amount of Molly (aka ecstasy) and a handgun finding their way into his backpack. Going to the cops isn't an option, meaning they have to find a way to get rid of the stash without drawing the ire of drug dealers, users and a rather intimidating businessman (Roger Guenveur Smith).

Then there's level three, the story of how they extricate themselves from a really insane situation with the help of a surprisingly brilliant drug user (Blake Anderson). They come up with an ingenious way of selling the unwanted product (one that doubles as a promo for bitcoin), but have to watch out for federal agents and potential interlopers who would cause their best laid plans to backfire on them.

The description makes “Dope” sound like a drama, and while it does have those elements to it, the film copes with the dark realities of growing up in an undesirable place and circumstances with humor. A fair bit of the humor is vulgar and sophomoric, although those are balanced by some clever callbacks, jokes via voiceover narration, and one or two utterly macabre punchlines that make a viewer feel bad for laughing. 

“Dope” wouldn't succeed without the comedic element (the humor ties a lot of it together) but the film's genre subversions and cultural politics ensure it'd remain interesting without it. There are moments when “Dope” aligns itself to 1990s films like “Boyz n the Hood” and “Menace II Society” – films that serve as morality plays warning against the violence of the cultures and neighborhoods depicted in those films. Anyone who has seen either knows bad things happen to the lead characters due to circumstances both outside, but especially within, their control, and “Dope” adds a little of that ominous air to its proceedings too. Yet it swerves away from the portentous and instead uses what would be punishable activities in those films as a vehicle toward success for Moore, Clemons and Revolori. They dip into the dark side, engage in the things they tried so hard to avoid, and come out in much better shape than when they entered.

Drug culture does get a shout out in “Dope,” along with about a dozen other topics ranging from self identification and the complexity of black culture to the appropriateness of white people dropping the N-bomb. Writer/director Rick Famuyiwa uses his movie as a platform to address those issues and does have success in spurts, especially in the brevity of that last point.

                                            I'll let Chris Rock explain the issue. 

The problem though is he tries to say too much, tries to get far more material in “Dope” than there should be. It kills the film's pacing – almost half of it takes place over one day, while the rest is part of a three-week stretch – and it definitely meanders long enough to wobble right past a terrific ending, one that induced a boisterous round of applause from the audience. (The response to the actual ending was much more muted.) Ending on that right moment would have bumped up “Dope’s” final score by a few points. As it stands, it remains a rather good film (with an amazing soundtrack) that falls just short of exemplary.

Review: Four out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: R

Run time: 103 minutes

Genre: Comedic drama

Ask Away

Target audience: Mainly black viewers in their teens to mid 20s, along with independent film fans and anyone down with 1990s rap and hip hop.

Take the whole family?: “Dope” is a bit too violent and certainly vulgar for a young audience. Teenagers at least age 15 really won't have a problem with it though.

Theater or Netflix?: Theater if you can find it locally. Wait for Netflix if you have to drive to the boonies to find it.  

How does the film treat its LGBT character? “Dope” generally does right with Kiersey Clemons' Diggy, a lesbian who is by far the funniest of the three central characters. She’s never knocked for her lesbianism either; “Dope” celebrates her comfort with her self and redirects jokes made about the subject to the people shaming her for it.

Watch this as well?: The first half of the film has a very strong “Dude, Where's My Car?” and “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” vibe to it, so either works as accompaniments. Also check out “Menace II Society” and the original “Friday,” although do avoid the sequels to the latter.

Side effects of watching No. 3 include temporary stupidity and homophobia.