There's something genius about setting a coming-of-age comedy in 2014 and making the main characters obsessed with '90s hip-hop. You get the best of both worlds: the pop culture references - Bitcoin, iPhones and YouTube - paired with the most '90s appropriate wardrobe a teenager could ask for, a soundtrack featuring Naughty By Nature, Eazy-E and Snoop Dogg and, most important, the perfect flattop. Director Rick Famuyiwa has indeed fashioned a crowd-pleaser in Dope. The filmmaker's muse is Malcolm (Shameik Moore), a self described geek who is in love with the aforementioned era of '90s hip-hop. He spends most of his time hanging out with his best friends and punk bandmates Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) while trying to avoid the jocks and gang members who populate his world. Oh yeah, and ASAP Rocky plays the neighborhood drug dealer; just throwing that out there. Sample review (via GeekTyrant):
"Dope feels familiar yet fresh, slightly predictable at times but never pastiche. If I could submit a definition of this film to Websters Dictionary, itd be: What Risky Business would be like if John Singleton and Guy Ritchie teamed up to remake it."
Jesse Gumbarge is editor and chief blogger at JarvisCity.com - He loves old-school horror films and starting pointless debates. You can reach out at: JesseGumbarge@JarvisCity.com
