Dope (2015), R, ★★★

It's time to make some money...by selling dope.

You've had a great and balanced life until some "magical" invitation stands in front of you or better yet, interferes with your future. When something or somebody comes along that you do not know about, sometimes, you can either take a chance or by popular demand, decline and/or move on with your life not knowing what it is about. However, this movie thrives on a grand future for one fellow, but, an invitation comes along his way and his friends and that all of a sudden, deceit will catch up to him and has to face it. But, this is a fresh take of how he and his friends deal with "dope" or drugs, so to speak, and the movie, even though it has a predictable arc, balances drama and humor quite well with some fine performances.

Malcolm Adekanbi (Shameik Moore) is a high school senior with big aspirations to go to Harvard, however, his essay regarding Ice Cube's "Good Thing" is analyzed and the school's counselor, Mr. Bailey (Bruce Beatty) dismisses the essay, simply saying that straight A's are not good enough to attend Harvard University. So, he refers him to Austin Jacoby for an interview with college admissions.

When they are not studying, Malcolm and his friends, Jib and Diggy (Tony Revolori from The Grand Budapest Hotel and Kiersey Clemons) do whatever they want, for example, they sing in their own punk rock band. Malcolm gets teased because he is a nerd, Jib has the advantage to call black people, well, you know, because he's 14% African-American and Diggy is a lesbian that persuades her parents to "pray the gay away."

Malcolm and his friends get their bikes nearly stolen as one drug dealer, Dom (A$AP Rocky), gets his attention and gets in a conversation about hip-hop knowledge and personal opinions. Dom tells Malcolm to go talk to a girl named Nakia (Zoe Kravitz), making him invite her to Dom's birthday bash. Nakia will go in one condition: Malcolm has to be there. They all go down to the nightclub as Jib and Diggy get wasted and Malcolm and Nakia are getting along. However, a rival gang comes in and commences a shootout at the club and they all escape.

The next morning, Malcolm looks in his backpack after a metal detector goes off and the dog barks at him which security allows him to pass and finds drugs and a gun inside. He consults with Jib and Diggy on what to do with the drugs. However, someone calls Malcolm to bring the drugs to him and Dom calls Malcolm that he is not with the guy in the car and the gangsters chase after the friends and are in a bit of pickle on what to do with the "dope". He has to start following instructions and maybe improvise as his life is hanging in the balance.

Life's good, huh? Well, not quite.

I really dug this movie as this premise is fresh from the end of the first act to the second act as we are rooting for Malcolm as he tries to resolve the situation and we want him to have a fruitful life and go to Harvard. The whole story is set-up for an essay that he does that is quite involving which itmakes you ponder about his distinctiveness. However, the bottom line is the character is so confident on whether or not Harvard can see him as a geek with many friends or a person who earns money in an unethical manner that the scene becomes too preachy and by Hollywood standards, a little cheesy. The scene is the whole tool of the story and the drug situation so why did the filmmakers throw away such an ambitious movie under the bus for a little bit?

Shameik Moore gives a confident and assured performance as he is happy and calm in one area but uncertain about an aspect of that Harvard topic and then in another story, he is scared in another area but is calm about the drug topic. It is a "mirror with two faces" type of story. Plus, he has good chemistry with Zoe Kravitz, who is delightful as Kravitz and Moore both set-up the romantic subplot of the story which works. Both Revolori and Clemons offer the humor on-screen and they are charming with Moore.

However, the movie loses its way on its conventionalism as a throwaway argument scene set-up a difficult jigsaw puzzle that needed to be organized better than this regarding Bit-coin and then it comes to a great scene regarding the bullies and Malcolm and his friends and we go to the essay scene. The ending is implied as a predictable ending because we root for Malcolm but we are happy. Director and writer Rick Famuyiwa tells two-thirds of the story with heart and one-third of the story with the brains and the movie offers such ingenuity and subtlety from these interesting characters that the movie goes on automatic pilot for a bit. Nevertheless, this is a vividly absorbing film most of the time producing laughter and tension throughout that you are sort of witnessing a John Hughes film that takes place in the hood. I enjoyed the film for what it is but the last third could have been better.

***