Review of Dope (2015) by Felipepercha — 20 Jun 2015

Malcolm (Shameik Moore), the teenage hero of writer and director Rick Famuyiwa’s shambling, agreeable Sundance hit “Dope,” is a classic figure straight out of 1990s African-American cinema. He’s growing up in a tough Los Angeles neighborhood (the Bottoms, in Inglewood), surrounded by gang violence and drug deals. He has a perfectly sculpted flattop and a collection of pristine Nike footwear, at least when the Bloods who persecute him at school don’t steal it. He loves Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Digital Underground and any number of less famous alt-rap acts. (At one point he and his friends buy the 12-inch single of “Rock Dis Funky Joint” by Poor Righteous Teachers – and as white-boy embarrassing as this is, I had that record!).

Except, wait – it’s only the ‘90s in Malcolm’s head, and in the obsessive yearnings of his band of misfits: A teen lesbian named Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) and a guy named Jib (Tony Revolori, from “The Grand Budapest Hotel”), who clearly isn’t black but whose precise ethnic origins are never explained. Is he Latino? Is he Arab? And why, as white hippie-hacker type Will Sherwood (Blake Anderson of “Workaholics”) wonders aloud, is Jib allowed to say the N-word when Will isn’t? Complicated question, am I right? And not one everyone will answer in the same way. (Paging Ms. Dolezal!) Malcolm says he doesn’t care whether Will says that word; Diggy pops him one every time he tries it. It’s not that she doesn’t like him, or thinks he’s a bigot. “It’s just instinct,” she shrugs.