Review of Dope (2015) by Bethany C — 24 Feb 2016

This is such an amazing film. First of all, it's about the hood without showing it as a place of inherent evil and awfulness. The main characters are real, and the setting is portrayed realistically, as a fully fledged, well-rounded place with diverse people with hopes. From the very first scene, it shows that even people who appear to be one dimensional (like Dom) can be intelligent and complicated (through his insights into politics).

While this movie clearly had a message, it wasn't a message that felt heavy handed, the movie didn't feel like an after school special or a political ad. This was partially due to the characters, who were perfectly real, geeks who had been shaped by their surroundings. It is also in part to the simply great story. It was compelling, it was entertaining and funny, and the plot twist at the end wasn't actually expected.

The character building is so impressive in this film, particularly the scene in which Malcolm threatens to shoot the men who are trying to take the bag of money from him. The subtle glimpse of what this boy could have grown up to be, could still grow up to be, the way the hood can raise people, was a better political statement than anything I've seen in films lately. And it did it all the while being a great, funny story. I cannot say enough good things about this film.

I watched it with my roommates, black race activists from Atlanta, who agree that this is a wonderfully refreshing film, a movie about blackness that isn't tragic or damning. I demand more movies exactly like this one.