Dope
Open Road Films | Release Date: June 19, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 18, 2015
It’s a movie about a geeky teenager living in the Los Angeles hood, and something about it, or rather everything about it, feels real. Read full review
90
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 18, 2015
Throughout the film Famuyiwa, who also wrote the script, uses split screens and backs up the film and jumps around and freezes the action, but he's not showing off. He uses these techniques to tell his story, and doesn't overuse them to the point of annoyance. Read full review
90
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJun 16, 2015
Part of what makes writer-director Rick Famuyiwa's Dope so fresh and joyous is that in many key ways it's not new at all. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 18, 2015
The tone of Dope is very interesting — funny, but rarely stupid-funny. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianJeff BakerJun 18, 2015
Dope has energy and smarts and a heart in all the right places. Read full review
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 18, 2015
Whatever definition of "dope" you prefer, it applies to Rick Famuyiwa's movie of the same name. Read full review
83
HitfixGregory EllwoodJan 28, 2015
The unexpected comedy bits, great music and an insightful point of view all contribute to making "Dope" something special, but it simply wouldn't fly without Moore. Read full review
83
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJan 28, 2015
The good certainly outweighs the uneven. Dope is both intelligent and crowd-pleasing. Read full review
80
Total FilmKevin HarleyAug 31, 2015
Famuyiwa’s teen pic mixes a cocktail of crowd-pleasing vim and political punch, lent charm and conviction by Moore – a star in the making. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerAug 31, 2015
A smart riposte to the ’hood drama stereotype. Dope is funny, stylish and mostly exuberant fun. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonJun 24, 2015
A rambunctious, sexy, funny, irreverent whirlwind of a movie, Dope doesn’t seem like it has much discipline or focus, but its frantic forward momentum and haphazard mixture of styles, although demonstratively entertaining, shouldn’t distract from a rather pointed political message about race in America. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJun 18, 2015
Dope has thrilling moments and flies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but its caustic intelligence glints fast and furious. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 18, 2015
If Dope were as earnest as Malcolm seems to be, you might expect it to be a bit of a bore. No worries on that count, though. Mr. Famuyiwa has a sleeve full of aces. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMay 23, 2015
Essentially a caper movie, Dope defies the wearisome social realism that is often used to depict lives at the bottom of the social ladder. The script is verbally smart and the various contrivances and tangles of the plot are amusingly played out. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 28, 2015
Dope isn’t perfect — it’s got a couple too many endings, and it loses the romantic subplot for a distressingly long time. But it moves with amazing energy, the dialogue and soundtrack and imagery a constant stream of pop-culture references, in-jokes, and digressions. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis HarveyJan 28, 2015
The fun momentum of Dope’s breakneck plotting and snappy dialogue easily overcome any momentary attack of earnestness. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 22, 2015
Famuyiwa dabbles in the teen sex comedy, the urban gangster story, and the fish out of water scenario. He gives us suspense, gross-out humor, a cute romance, and a sermon about the status of race in America. Read full review
75
USA TodayBrian TruittJun 19, 2015
Newcomer Shameik Moore shines with geeky gusto in a breakthrough role in the coming-of-age comedy/drama, which tackles racial stereotypes and 1990s culture as a kind of spiritual descendant of "Friday" and "Do the Right Thing" while still featuring a singular voice. Read full review
75
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeJun 19, 2015
So many movies play it safe and predictable that you have to give it up to Dope for making consistently bold moves — even if they don’t always pay off. This vibrant film is a bit of a mess, but it’s a beautiful one. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. JohnsonJun 18, 2015
Dope is funny, slick and sharp. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 18, 2015
Famuyiwa reminds viewers not to believe — or worse, internalize — the hype, and he provides a great deal of cheeky, infectious fun in the process. Put another way, Dope is the bomb. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyJun 17, 2015
Dope has more characters and subplots than it knows what to do with, and its performances are all over the place, ranging from Clemons’ and Revolori’s charismatic turns as second-banana goofballs to Roger Guenveur Smith’s stylized impression of a local millionaire, so vampiric that he might as well be slathered in German Expressionist makeup. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 17, 2015
Just know that Famuyiwa keeps the action spinning with vibrant speed and rare sensitivity. He's made a comedy of social expectation that plays like an exhilarating gift. Read full review
70
SlateDana StevensJun 27, 2015
Thanks to a witty, fast-moving script (also by Famuyiwa) and a sensitive performance from the newcomer Moore, Dope helps us see how a young black man coming of age in America faces complications unforeseen by the smugly entitled high schooler played by Tom Cruise all those years ago in "Risky Business." Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 18, 2015
It’s easy to root for Malcolm, to admire his pluck and share in his enthusiasm. It may be a little harder to buy what he and Dope are selling. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBoyd van HoeijJan 28, 2015
Bouncy, with snappy dialog to spare and a great young cast headed by breakout star Shameik Moore, this is a crowd-pleaser from start to finish. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJun 17, 2015
Messages about learning to be comfortable in one’s own skin and the hypocrisy of the ruling class are delivered with genial humor and mild pokes. Read full review
67
IndieWireAn BanhJan 28, 2015
Dope provokes a discussion about the dichotomy between societal expectations of the race-defined self, as well as the democratic American right to be who you want to be — but it's an unfocused and tangential one, limited by the trappings of comedy and the flash of the hip-hop aesthetic. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJun 19, 2015
Full of energy and attitude, it’s the sort of movie that likes to startle, if not necessarily shock. No wonder Dope was an audience favorite at Sundance last winter. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonJun 19, 2015
Dope alternates between being shockingly tone-deaf and surprisingly on-point. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJun 18, 2015
Saring, often funny comedy. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 17, 2015
Dope has a hint of “Virginity Hit” and “Project X” about it, but it goes much further than those trangressive and sometimes violent romps. It challenges its characters, its community and us to think beyond cause-and-effect, stereotypes and expectations. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, Famuyiwa is onto something both funny and thought provoking. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanJun 18, 2015
The tone is fast and funny, with a modern “Risky Business” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” vibe, but there’s an additional layer that stems from the violence of the neighborhood. Read full review
60
The DissolveKeith PhippsJun 18, 2015
Happily, what Dope does well, it does extremely well—namely letting Malcolm, Diggy, and Jib hang out together and navigate the world on their own terms. All three leads are charming, and together, they convey a real sense of camaraderie, the kind that only develop between misfits who find each other. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithJun 17, 2015
As a comedy, the film isn’t especially funny, and as a screwball drug caper a la “Go,” it’s raggedly plotted, with ridiculous coincidences popping up everywhere. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezJun 12, 2015
Dope is a mess of styles and mixed signals, a pulp fiction that mostly tend to its loyalties to other cine-odysseys through the streets of Los Angeles. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJun 18, 2015
Dope is, in the end, just another unfunny grab bag of stereotypes. Don't believe the hype. Read full review
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