DOPE (2015)
Dir:
Rick Famuyiwa
by Jaime
Davis
The first thing I learned in film
school had to do with movie marketing. When you buy a ticket to watch a film,
you’re really buying in to the poster and trailer and other marketing biz baz,
not the movie itself. Because, duh, when you buy that ticket, you haven’t seen
that movie yet. It could totally suck! The marketing game (i.e. posters,
trailers, behind the scenes featurettes) sold you, son. I learned this in the
late 90s, before YouTube and the internets and all that, when you couldn’t
watch movie trailers for days and days on end (which I’ve been known to do). So
instead, in class, we focused on movie posters, or one-sheets. A one-sheet
features the heart of a film’s story, told mostly in visual form, condensed
into one page. It’s like the soul of the movie you guys. Yeah I know that’s
major cheeseball, but it’s truth.
Let’s start with a simple one. And
by simple, I mean dumb as hell.
I
haven’t seen The Rewrite, but I can
tell a lot just from this dang poster. See Hugh Grant is
some
kind of teacher, because his smiling British mug has been superimposed in front
of a
chalk
board. But he’s looking pretty happy and confident here – maybe he hasn’t
always been a
teacher? He’s obviously the protagonist, because he’s pictured by himself. Ok,
now see Marisa
Tomei? Maybe she’s a teacher too, or she’s in school herself, hence the bad
Photoshop of
her over a campus background. And she’s subtly looking up and smiling at Hugh –
major LOVE
INTEREST alert. Hrrrmmm, I wonder if they end up together.
Here’s
one that’s less obvious. And by less obvious, I mean much, much better.
Ok so in this one you’ve got three
kids pasted in what’s clearly Los Angeles. Cool, it’s set in LA! That was easy.
And the guy in front left is a little bigger than everyone else, so that must
mean he’s our hero, and his two friends following him around will fare
prominently in the story, but won’t have story lines of their own. The fact
that they’re on bikes signals that there’s some sort of action in the film –
they’re constantly on the move and running around and cracking cold cases and shit.
Well maybe not cracking cold cases. But the bikes imply motion which implies
action and adventure! The colors signify fresh and young and modern and FUN!
Yes, this movie looks like it could be fun.
I could analyze dumb posters FOR
DAYS. Alright, alright, I won’t.
Nowadays, most people who go to
the theater/rent/on demand stream movies aren’t relying on one-sheets to
influence their buying choices. Nope, you’re mostly influenced by the trailer
(or a cast/trailer combo, or a few trailers). And let me tell you, I was
seriously sweating the Dope trailers.
Let’s take the teaser trailer
first. I think I watched it like a million times. No, two million times!
Honest! I fell hard and fast for it, the way you fall for a Taylor Swift video,
or an ice cream sundae on a super—hot day. Super creative, imaginative,
non-traditional – it takes the teaser game and spins it on its head. You’re not
entirely sure of the plot, but you want to get to know the characters, want to
inhabit the world the film is all about. It’s like a music video, but not.
Because who watches those anymore? (I still do). It’s like a music video made
for Millennials – mashing animation and pop culture references and jams all up
into one teaser trailer baby.
And the actual movie trailer
builds on that which the teaser wrought – with the addition of some key plot
points and dialogue, you can (omg, finally) get a sense of the story and its
players.
Dope is set in
present-day Inglewood, California. Our protagonist, Malcolm, is a super smart
kids trying to finish out his senior year of high school. He wants what a lot
of high school dudes want – to graduate, go to college, and hook up with hot
girls. But while many high school dudes fly under the safety and security of
their privilege, Malcolm has to navigate the tricky waters of a tough
neighborhood where joining gangs and dealing drugs can sometimes be the best,
if not only, options for surviving and making ends meet. And did I mention that
Malcolm is a geek? He and his friends Jib and Diggy (Tony Revolori, dude from Grand Budapest, and Kiersey Clemons, one
to watch) worship at the altar of 90s hip hop, convinced that it was a golden
age, despite some pretty funny arguments to the contrary. In his quest to land
the perfect girl (Zoe Kravitz, sigh, I guess), Malcolm accidentally becomes
embroiled in a drug dealing brouhaha that puts him and his trusted mates in
harm’s way. It’s like Goonies,
Millennial-style. And that’s a good thing. There’s gang baddies, a crazy
tripped out hottie played by real-life hottie slash actress (Chanel Iman),
regular high school bullies, a rich kid wannabe thug producer, a white
stoner/hacker hybrid, and a Harvard alumni interviewer so despicable, he forces
Malcolm to do some very bad, very funny things with bitcoins in order to settle
the score.
If
it sounds like there’s a lot going on in Dope,
that’s because there is. Some of the storylines
are
satisfyingly wrapped up with little red bows, like the Harvard admissions essay
that
Malcolm
reworks at the end of the film, calling out the university on inherent racial
biases in
Ivy
League admissions. Others kind of fall flat or are left alone. Womp womp. On
the
disappointing
side, some of director Rick Famuyiwa’s depictions of women felt a bit archaic
and
unnecessary. Chanel Iman’s character gets naked, does drugs, gets even nakeder,
crashes
a car, and urinates in public while being filmed on a cell phone by horny
bystanders.
The
sexuality of Malcolm’s female friend Diggy is immediately referenced and
discussed as an
important
story point, even though it really isn’t.
But
you know what? There’s so much to like about Dope. Remember when I said the movie
poster
looked fun? That’s because the movie is, indeed, fun! And Rick Fox has a cameo!
And
A$AP
Rocky is in this! And Kimberly Elise! And Tyga! So if the one-sheet and the
trailers
haven’t
convinced you yet, let me help you. Duh, you want to go see this.
