A coming of age tale for the post-hip hop and social media generation, a black geek picture for the Urkels and Kanye Wests of the world, a crime/drug caper, a comedy, a gettin’-out-of-the-ghetto film, and more, writer/director Rick Famuyiwa’s funny and vibrantly realized “Dope” packs in a lot of movie. Featuring a long, “Pulp Fiction”-like crime-comedy sprawl, with several story threads in the air, the movie also features a witty and sharp African-American cultural commentary a la “Dear White People.” And if that sounds dynamic, but a little overstuffed, that’s because it kind of is.
But “Dope” starts out with fantastic energy, charm, and laughs. Centering on three friends in socio-economically challenged “The Bottoms” of Inglewood, California, the ‘90s hip hop culture obsessed trio — Malcolm (Shameik Moore), Jib (Tony Revolori), and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) — try to survive and get by. Malcolm, in particular, aspires for an education, dreaming of attending Harvard, and finding a...
