Mope (film)

Mope is a 2019 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Lucas Heyne and starring Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kelly Sry, Brian Huskey, Max Adler, Tonya Cornelisse, Clayton Rohner, Michael Traynor and David Arquette. The film premiered in Midnight section of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.[1] Following its premiere, the film was screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival.[2]

Mope
Film poster
Directed byLucas Heyne
Written byLucas Heyne
Zack Newkirk
Produced by
  • BP Cooper
  • Elena Cristiean
  • Kelly Hayes
  • Kern Saxton
  • Dylan Vox
Starring
CinematographyBryan Koss
Edited byKern Saxton
Music byJonathan Snipes
Production
companies
Parkside Pictures
Saxton Cinema
Uncooperative Pictures
Distributed byQuiver Distribution
Release date
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Stephen Clancy Hill (an African-American) and Herbert Hin Wong (a Japanese-American) are best friends who end up working as pornstars, a hobby that they seem to enjoy. By working as pornstars at the San Fernando Valley's porn company, the duo assumes that they might one day become famous. But infamy, not fame pursues both Steve Driver and Tom Dong (as the duo became known under their stage names). Following a long career of working as an extra "mope", Driver gets very angry but tries to discuss the situation with the manager. That one however, laughs at him, and one day, instead of promoting him, fires. After that incident Steve gets angry and goes on a rampage with his katana sword against Tom Dong, of whom he was jealous, due to his continued employment. Driver ends up killing Dong, which results into a criminal investigation by the local police.

Cast
  • Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Steve Driver
  • Kelly Sry as Tom "Dong"
  • Brian Huskey as Eric
  • Max Adler as Chris
  • David Arquette as "Rocket"
  • Tonya Cornelisse as "Tampa"
  • Clayton Rohner as Dad
  • Michael Traynor as Doug
  • Peggy Dunne as Stepmom
  • John Haegele as "Wiz"
  • Angel Cardenas as "Treetop"
  • Marc Barnes as Tony
  • Jim Powers as Jim Lane
  • Dylan Vox as Trevor
  • Randy Wayne as Ricky "Cucumber"
  • Nash Carter as Kayla
  • Annie Cruz as Nora
  • Alice Frost as Pam
  • Cindy Lucas as Angela
  • Layla Price as Kim
  • Norah Nova as Amy
  • Stephen Kilcullen as Johnnie "Panties"
  • Michael Q. Schmidt as Harvey "Rude"
  • Garrett Lloyd as Tucker
  • Paulina Michaels as Dream Woman
  • Kasey Keys as Movie Store Employee
  • Kay Wilson as Cute Bar Girl

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 50% based on 18 critics, with an average rating of 6.3/10.[3] On Metacritic, Mope has a rank of 48 out of a 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[4]

Critics at RogerEbert.com gave the film a score of 1.5 stars out of 4. Odie Henderson, who ranked it as such wrote "Mope is so disgusted by its characters that it never sees their humanity".[5] Nick Allen, who opted out on the rank, wrote that "I was most disturbed by how this movie encouraged me to have empathy for these characters, while not having any of its own".[6]

According to Dante James of Film Threat "[the film is] not going to be everybody's cup of tea".[7]

References
  1. "Mope". Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  2. "Mope (2019)". New Zealand International Film Festival. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  3. "Mope (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  4. "Mope". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  5. Henderson, Odie (June 16, 2020). "Mope". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  6. Allen, Nick (February 5, 2019). "Sundance 2019: Wounds, Greener Grass, Mope". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  7. James, Dante (June 16, 2020). "Mope". Film Threat. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
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