Review of Dope (2015) by Christopher E — 16 Nov 2015

It's weird, I would've thought a film that rocked the title "Dope", would be raunchy, lazy, mind-numming, and stupid. Thankfully, this movie was none of that.

"Dope" stars Shameik Moore, who plays your typical, cliche kid in high school that has strived for academic success in a difficult area. I thought I'd be able to predict where this movie was going, but I couldn't. This movie surprised me in a lot of ways, and it had a few messages that stuck with me. And just a reminder, nothing about this movie was cliche, and it had an extremely smart screenplay.

To start off, I love the direction this movie goes. Whoever wrote the screenplay did a great job, and this movie was smart in many areas. The dialogue was interesting, and the pacing was pretty good. Honestly, I wish this movie was a little bit longer, and the ending felt abrupt, but the more I think about the ending and this movie, the more I appreciate it. The movie didn't try and over complicate things with it's plot, and it knew exactly what kind of film it wanted to be. This movie, despite the title, is a smart film. It does a great job of building intensity at times, while still managing to keep a comedic, yet heart-warming tone.

A movie can be written great, shot great, and directed by someone great, but it is nothing without it's actors. Shameik Moore did a great job in this movie, and I loved the character development they gave to his character. He was a completely relatable and likable guy, and I just wanted everything to turn out good for him. They do a good job of letting you know that the stakes are high, while simultaneously keeping you engaged in the film. Although I didn't necessarily love any of the supporting cast, they all did a fine job.

This movie was honestly just a refreshing take on our society and life. Like I've said before, this movie was smart in many ways, and I love the messages that were here. In fact, there was one scene that really stuck with me. and it involved a certain message/monologue being spoken at the end, and it really had me thinking a lot about how our society functions and acts today. If you take two people from the same exact place, and give them the same exact living conditions and money, they are not guaranteed to go the same route in life. You can't tell who someone is just by their looks, but by their actions and what they strive to do. You can't judge someone based on where they were born, or where they went to school, because not all of us were as blessed to receive quality education or a safe neighborhood to live in. I really did love the messages in this movie, and you should watch it for that alone.

I know that this review makes it seem like it's a really deep and dark movie that is centered on its messages alone, but it's really not. It's a nice comedy with an entertaining story, that also sports some great messages in this movie. This movie made me laugh, and it kept me interested the whole time. I loved the characters, the situation was unique, and by the time the end credits rolled, I had a smile on my face. In the end, this movie gets a very strong 4 stars.