Day 45 - Dope


Day 45              Dope [2015]
                          
Screenplay                    Rick Famuyiwa
Director                         Rick Famuyiwa
Cinematography            Rachel Morrison
Music                            Germaine Franco
Leads                             Shameik Moore, A$AP Rocky, Zoë Kravitz, Blake Anderson, Tony Revolori, Chanel Iman, Quincy Brown
Production                     Significant Productions, I am OTHER, Revolt Films

IMDb                                7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes                88%

This one has a surprisingly high rating on RT and IMDb and I’m not quite sure why. I just didn’t think it was anything special. It was original, sure, but I think they missed a trick with it. The plot was close to being great, but I think maybe it was rushed, or too convoluted, which meant the film just didn’t flow properly. It’s about some high school geeks who unexpectedly end up with a load of high-grade molly and have to deal with it fast. The only good thing about it was the hip-hop laced sound track and Zoë Kravitz. Shameik Moore was also fairly good. My favourite part was the craziness with Chanel Iman and Quincy Brown, more stuff like that would have been watchable, but it was ruined by the fake news coverage and its brief moment in the film. Maybe you’ll like it, but I think it was actually worse because of its huge potential, upon which it did not deliver. Finally, I should mention the DOP Rachel Morrison as the first woman ever nominated for a cinematography Academy Award for Mudbound. There's nothing special about the cinematography in this but that nomination is a huge achievement and it would be great to see more cinematographers who aren't white males.

Acting                            2 / 4
Writing                           1 / 4
Cinematography             2 / 4
Music                          3.5 / 4

HWF rating            1.5 / 4