Dope is a US indie-comedy drama with a real geek meets gangsta twist that’s refreshing to watch

REVIEW: You could say this US indie comedy-drama sits at a mythical point where Boyz N the Hood meets Risky Business. But that would be missing the point.

Dope (MA15+)

Director: Rick Famuwiya (Brown Sugar)

Starring: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, A$AP Rocky, Zoe Kravitz.

Rating: ****

DOPE (MA15+) Made to deal, or the future is no deal

You could say this vibrant US indie comedy-drama sits at a mythical point where Boyz N the Hood meets Risky Business. But that would be missing the point.

Pulsing with a loopy, anything-goes energy truly unique to itself, Dope bounces all over the screen as one of the freshest releases of 2015.

Meet Malcolm (Shameik Moore). He’s in his final year of high school in the Bottoms, the roughest neighbourhood for an African-American kid to be growing up in contemporary California.

As Malcolm calls it himself, life in the Bottoms is “a daily navigation between bad and worse choices”.

A new take .. a scene from the movie Dope. Picture: Sony Pictures.

Take riding a bike home from school, for example. Make a wrong turn down the wrong street, and you’ll get jumped and lose your wheels in a flash.

Upping the pressure on Malcolm and his close friends Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) is the irrefutable fact they are confirmed geeks.

The trio dig old-school 90s hip-hop, first-gen Nintendo games, getting good grades and (as Malcolm says again) “all that other s--- white people like.”

A real posse of friends ... another scene from the movie Dope. Picture: Sony Pictures.

Just hanging out with Malcolm and his posse would more than enough for Dope to get by. So it is a welcome surprise to see everything go up a notch once a fascinating twist comes into play.

After reluctantly becoming the romantic go-between for a local drug dealer (rapper A$AP Rocky) and his would-be girlfriend (Zoe Kravitz), Malcolm finds himself in deep trouble.

The only way out for Malcolm is to temporarily become a dealer himself. The kid doesn’t even get the luxury of the usual terrible array of choices. There are none this time.

Worth a look ... the movie Dope. Picture: Sony Pictures.

If the product — and there is a heck of lot of it — isn’t moved quickly, then Malcolm can kiss goodbye any chance of a college education. He may not even live to see graduation day.

The nerd-goes-gangsta plot line served up by Dope doesn’t take any easy shortcuts to win you over.

While this can result in the odd misfiring scene sometimes, the film’s ability to not only correct its mistakes but continually improve is something truly special.

Melbourne: Now showing at the Jam Factory, Cinema Nova and Lido Hawthorn.

Sydney: Now showing at the Dendy Newtown, Hoyts Broadway and Ritz Randwick.

Brisbane: Now showing at the Palace Barracks.

Originally published as Dope is a US indie-comedy drama with a real geek meets gangsta twist that’s refreshing to watch