Dope, as this sly, hip little film reminds us, can be slang for both drugs and an idiot. The contradiction is clear. It’s not exactly a new thought of course; in fact every major aspect of this have-it-both ways film has been done before.

However, like a good stew the same ingredients can be used to make something tasty and new. This is a high school drama cum comedy-caper about growing up in the wilder Gangsterised ethnic ghettoes of an American inner city. In this case it is an area known as ‘the Bottoms’. The inciting incident is when the self-declared nerd protagonists (they are especially nerdy about early 1990’s hip hop) find a gangster’s drugs in their school bag. Before that though we have to meet them and get to be on their side. This is where writer/director Rick Famuyiwa’s likeable approach comes in. That, and the fine performances from the fresh young leads. As one might expect the film is knowingly postmodern about its choices for the main trio. Malcolm (Shameik Moore) is a handsome black teenager who hangs with a Latino called Jib (Tony Revelori - The Grand Budapest Hotel) and a spiky young lesbian called Diggy (Kiersey Clemons).

You could design this trio at the script stage to cover all the bases but the film rises above its own stereotypes. It also has fun with the absurdly dangerous milieu. The kids go to a school which seems like a cross between a reformatory and a prison. They not only have metal detectors at the school gate they have a guard and vicious attack dogs too.

Out in the street everyone is pimpin and swaggering (wall to wall use of the N-word) and gangstering away as if the whole of America is a gangster’s paradise. Quite early on Malcolm falls for Lisa (Kimberly Elise). Her part is not great but you need her to represent the dilemma of someone who is trying to get an education the hard way in order to move on and out. The film seems to suggest her way is less effective (and certainly less cinematic) than swindling and bluffing. To further the plot, she allows Malcolm to tutor her. This immediately brings him into conflict with her vicious boyfriend who is the local king pin which adds to Malcolm’s pressures.

Famuyiwa finally throws in some less convincing solutions to do with bribing one’s way into an elite university but that seems more like a way to justify what has gone before. His real interest is in the vibrant young teens and their adventures. The film has a great hip hop soundtrack as you would expect complimented by the director’s freewheeling and kinetic approach. Dope is mostly upbeat and it doesn’t get too bogged down in reflection. Instead it dramatises just enough of the agonies of coming of age and the difficulties of staying legit to make us care.

As noted, all the leads are good but Moore is born to be in front of the camera. If he plays his casting choices right he could go all the way. The film as a whole will be enjoyed by many but, in the longer run; it might be remembered, like Juno (1900), as one of those nicely-turned pieces that launched a significant new actor.

// JULIAN WOOD

Previewed at Verona Cinemas, Sydney, on 15 June 2015