For today’s film, I chose a film that peaked my interest as soon as I heard the word’s 90’s Hip Hop. I am talking about the summer sleeper known as Dope which was directed by Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood) and stars Shameik Moore in his first lead role as our lead character Malcolm. Malcolm isn’t your ordinary kid from the hood, you see Malcolm is a straight A student who has an obsession with 90’s hip hop culture and music and he plays in a punk rock band called Oreo. After being invited to a party, the life of Malcolm and his two friends will change for a least a little while when Malcolm realizes that he is in possession of some dope. He is then faced with a tough proposition as he has to sell off all of the dope or it’s his ass and his recommendation letter to Harvard. The film also stars A$AP Rocky as Dom, Kiersey Clemons (Eye Candy) as Diggy, Tony Revolori (The 5TH Wave) as Jig, Quincy Brown (We The Party) as Jaleel, Kimberly Elise (Diary Of A Mad Black Woman) as Lisa Hayes, , Chanel Iman as Lily, Blake Anderson (Workaholics) as Will Sherwood, Zoe Kravitz (Mad Max: Fury Road) as Nakia, and Roger Guenveur Smith (Final Destination) as Austin Jacoby.
First off, I want to start this off by just saying that I really loved this film. Besides Straight Outta Compton, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mad Max: Fury Road, that this may be one of my favorite films of 2015. The other thing is that if you are a fan of Hip Hop music, then this is a film that you are going to love because it features some great classic hip hop in the film like Public Enemy, Onyx, Digital Underground, and so much more. One other observation I made while watching this film is that I should have researched that it was Zoe Kravitz in this film. I kept saying to myself, “wow this girl looks a lot like Lisa Bonet” not even realizing that her mom was Lisa Bonet. Yes that one was my bad, but she does a terrific job as did everyone in this film. The acting was top notch in this modern day coming of age story as Malcolm finally figures out just who he is after a teacher threw that question in his face. I will also say that I was thoroughly impressed with A$AP Rocky who is essentially only in the first half of the film and the man that sets off the chain reaction or slippery slope as he puts it in the film. I said above that if you were a fan of hip hop then you would like this film, but the truth is if you are just a fan of films, then you should enjoy this. Check it out for yourself as I give this film an A- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 