A Star Wars Director's Underrated Crime Comedy Featured A$AP Rocky In His Movie Debut

Director Rick Famuyiwa is perhaps best known these days for his work in the "Star Wars" universe. He directed two episodes of the first season of "The Mandalorian" and continued to direct, write, and/or executive produce episodes of the show in later seasons. (He also wasn't a fan of Baby Yoda's real name, i.e. Grogu, starting out.) Famuyiwa additionally helmed an episode of "Ahsoka" season 1 and was already a TV veteran by the time he started working on "Star Wars" projects, having directed the pilot for "The Chi" (which he's also an executive producer on).

On the movie side of the equation, cineastes may know Famuyiwa's name thanks to his remarkable 1999 feature directorial debut "The Wood," a coming-of-age film starring Omar Epps and Taye Diggs. Its title refers to Inglewood, California, a neighborhood in Los Angeles where Famuyiwa grew up. The film wasn't a major awards darling, but it was praised by critics for exploring the lives and romances of middle-class Black men, something that has often been neglected in movies. Famuyiwa followed "The Wood" with "Brown Sugar" in 2002, a romantic comedy that also starred Diggs. Then, in 2010, he directed the culture-clash comedy "Our Family Wedding," which focuses on the comedic mishaps that occur during a wedding for two characters played by Lance Boyd and America Ferrera. Their fathers, played by Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia, hate each other. Shenanigans ensue.

But Famuyiwa's best film is 2015's "Dope," another movie based in Inglewood. "Dope" was set in the present, but its three teenage leads — played by Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, and Tony Revolori — were hung up on early 1990s fashion and hip-hop culture. It's funny, intense, and thoughtful. It also marked the film debut of A$AP Rocky, who played a character named Dom.

"Dope," which Rick Famuyiwa discussed with/Film in 2015, specifically takes place in a small neighborhood inside of Inglewood nicknamed the Bottoms. It's a particularly high-crime area, and young Malcolm (Shameik Moore) has to traverse the streets carefully. Famuyiwa uses the film to carefully examine a class of young Black geeks, another group rarely seen in films. Malcolm wears his hair in a 1991-era flat top, and he and his buddies Jib (Tony Revolori) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons) wear 1990s-style clothing while listening to vintage hip-hop. Malcolm aims to attend Harvard soon, but few people have faith in his abilities. 

Malcolm's life is then turned upside down by his encounter with Dom (A$AP Rocky), a local drug dealer. Dom ends up stashing drugs in Malcolm's backpack without his knowledge, plunging Malcolm, Jib, and Diggy into a complex web of local criminals. Several mysterious claimants to the drugs are on their tail, while Dom instructs them to deliver the drugs to a compatriot. Rather than deal with the drug-dealers, though, the teens — enterprising Millennials — decide to instead sell the drugs themselves. And the safest way to do so is to set up a black market online and accept Bitcoin as payment. "Dope" was made in 2015, so all of this felt incredibly novel and resourceful. 

All the while. Malcolm is trying to charm a local girl named Nakia (Zoë Kravitz) and outwit some adult criminals and black marketeers. The rappers Kap G and Tyga, along with a young LaKeith Stanfield, have small roles, while Blake Anderson is hilarious as an enterprising computer hacker who also loves '90s hip-hop. In a very funny scene, he needs it explained to him that white people aren't allowed to say racial slurs, even if they're rap lyrics.

De'Aundre Bonds, notably, co-stars in "Dope" as a school security guard named Stacey, a role he previously played in "The Wood." Yes, Rick Famuyiwa's films are set in the same universe.

The brilliance of "Dope," however, lies with its moral stance on Malcolm. He is a good-hearted kid who uses his wits and his resources to make money and impress Harvard interviewers, but who is also making money selling drugs on the black market. Malcolm, we find, is adaptable and thoughtful, and his ability to traverse the world of high crime as a nerdy teen makes him admirable. His essay to Harvard at the end describes two aspiring high school students, one who gets straight A's and attends clubs, while the other is a street criminal who sells drugs. The punchline is that Malcolm is both of those students. How do you see Malcolm? What is his identity to you? 

"Dope" was largely praised by critics, with many admiring its approach to characterization and expressing relief at seeing young Black nerds on the big screen. Some critics also praised its originality, while others were put off by its strange regression into certain kinds of character clichés. Odie Henderson, writing for RogerEbert.com, only gave it two-and-a-half stars, arguing that Famuyiwa spun wildly between on-point satire and disappointing, hackneyed crime film conceits. I choose to think that Famuyiwa was recycling a 1990s crime movie plot on purpose, pointing out that the young nerdy characters are still cinematically trapped in such a place. 

"Dope" became a flashpoint for many young rising stars and rappers following its release. Most recently, A$AP Rocky has appeared in the acclaimed drama "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" and Spike Lee's Akira Kurosawa remake "Highest 2 Lowest."