Dope

When journalist Gayle King recommended "Dope," the new film written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa and produced by Forest Whitaker and Pharrell Williams, I figured I was in for a weepy, inspirational movie like "Pursuit of Happiness" or "Green Mile." But "Dope" isn't like those movies at all; it's like "Pulp Fiction" meets "Straight Outta Compton." You won't get yourself wrapped up in inspirational shit without being thoroughly entertained.

Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is a good kid, kind of a nerd, but he doesn't fit in among the gangsters and the thugs in his neighborhood. His problem is he's into white people shit like getting good grades, wanting to go to college, Danny Glover, and most of all, old-school rap and 90s hip-hop.

Things spin out of control for him when he goes to a drug dealer's party in order to woo a girl. You know what your parents say, "Don't hang with the wrong crowd. It's a slippery slope." That may be true, but someone as unique as Malcolm doesn't slide down the mountain in any ordinary way.

The persistence of the American Dream is behind every frame of this charming, funny and always entertaining movie, but "Dope" is also a sly and jaded film that isn't about to tell you that working hard and staying in school is the way for a black teenager to get into Harvard. Truly smart kids know the only way to get ahead is to fuck with the system.

Also featuring hip-hop talent A$AP Rocky, Blake Anderson ("Workaholics"), Zoe Kravitz ("Divergent"), Toni Revolori ("The Grand Budapest Hotel"), rapper Tyga and supermodel Chanel Iman, this Blu-ray combo pack has two pretty decent special features, a featurette with the cast and crew discussing the movie and one where the musicians focus on the music.

"Dope"
Blu-ray Combo Pack
uni.pictures/Dope