Movie Review- Dope

Originally written 1/22/16

            Dope has a lot of good things going for it, but is held back by an overstuffed mish-mash plot. There are three different movies going on here, a raunchy teen comedy, a coming-of-age drama, and a crime thriller. As a whole, these three stories diminish the impact each could have had individually. The teen comedy aspect feels out of place with the film's serious moments. Both work fine by themselves, but as a whole film they do not coalesce together well. It's hard to get invested in serious coming-of-age drama when the movie spends the first half as a raunchy comedy.

            The movie gets so lost in its multiple twists that it seems to forget that its main characters are nerds. The movie largely eschew geeky humor save for repeated references to bitcoin. In an attempt to be relevant and "real" to today's teens there are of course memes and MDMA, references that will age as poorly as all other timely references in teen movies do.  I would have like the movie to either pursue that comedic route further or play it straight. And to avoid the meme references altogether. You can still have funny, relatable characters without delving into flat-out comedy as the movie occasionally does. The three lead actors are all incredibly charming and have good screen chemistry. They could have easily carried the film as a complete drama. Their performances are the anchor that keeps the movie from capsizing. 

            The washed-out Instagram filter looking cinematography gorgeously captures disenfranchised urban California. Even if you can't relate to the youth of today, there are at least pretty shots to look at on screen. The trendy-ass thrift store chic costume design is admittedly nice to look at as well. I am not a fan of the music video style editing in the party scenes. The constant frame rate ramping in those scenes made me think of the drugged out dance scene from Cruising. Music video style editing almost never works, especially when it is done just to look cool.

            One minor thing: The main characters have a punk band called "Oreo". (Get it? Because they're white on the inside. What a dumb pun. Only a teenage garage band would think that was a funny band name.) Apparently Pharrell Williams produced the soundtrack, and his influence is painfully apparent. Oreo is the most vanilla, sanitized car commercial sounding punk band I have ever heard. I like Pharrell's music, but punk rock he is not. The fact that clearly established music geeks would consider their music punk is hilariously dumb.

            Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed Dope. I appreciate the ambition of the movie's twisty story. I like that it is teen movie for poor kids and minorities who are otherwise nonexistent in John Hughes type movies. It is a good step forward for diversity. I hope the three leads get more roles, they were all very likable. Plus the cinematography is pretty and the end credits are done like Pop-Up Video. It has its moments.