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With: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Kimberly Elise, Chanel Iman, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, ASAP Rocky, Lakeith Stanfield, Rick Fox, Amin Joseph, Tyga, Roger Guenveur Smith, De'aundre Bonds, Quincy Brown, Kap-G, Vince Staples, Casey Veggies, Wyking Jones, Forest Whitaker (narrator)
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Written by: Rick Famuyiwa
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Directed by: Rick Famuyiwa
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MPAA Rating: R for language, drug content, sexuality/nudity, and some violence-all involving teens
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Running Time: 103
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Date: 06/19/2015
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Buggin' Out
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rick Famuyiwa's Dope (2015) is a refreshing twist on all those nerdy high school comedy-adventure stories that used to star John Cusack. Set in a dangerous area of Inglewood, it focuses on three friends, Malcolm (Shameik Moore), Jib (Tony Revolori), and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons), who play in a band and are obsessed with 1990s hip-hop. Enduring metal detectors and malevolent bullies at school, they all just want to lay low and survive long enough to get to college. Malcolm's crush on a neighborhood beauty, Nakia (Zoe Kravitz), brings them to a party, which accidentally leaves them with a huge package of drugs; the only way to get rid of it is to sell it. The movie provides all the fun and laughs that this genre usually promises, in addition to tons of great music by Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, and more. But it also raises intriguing questions about race, language, stereotyping and labeling, and gender politics (frequently mistaken for a boy, Diggy is actually a lesbian). As Malcolm, Shameik Moore gives a breakout performance, and is someone to watch for. Forest Whitaker produced and narrates.
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