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DOPE GAME 2: COKELAND
Produced by Jose & Eduardo Quiroz and David Rocha
Written & Directed by Jose & Eduardo Quiroz
Edited by Rocky Robinson & Eduardo Quiroz
Cinematography by Rocky RobinsonJuan Diaz - David Rocha
Tony Costa - Jose Rosette
Tom McQueen - David Petersen
Jan Bronson - Chris Angelo
Miguel Durazo - Victor Zaragoza
Eric Durazo - Raul Martinez
Juan, Tony, Tom and Jan run the special operations department of the Oakland County Police. Their job is to get the scum off the streets. Of course, the job doesn't pay well so they supplement their income by ripping off dealers. Their latest score came to 50 grand and two kilos of cocaine. Not a bad haul and they were able to waste a couple of the bad guys at the same time. Unfortunately, the Durazo brothers don't take kindly to being ripped off and they take to the streets with a vengeance. They want their stuff back and the bad cops need to make sure that they put the Durazo brothers in their place...for good. Of course, the one problem is that the Durazo brothers are blood thirsty and crazy. Nothing will stand in their way to completely take over the drug business in Oakland. Not even cops that are as crazy as they are.
I'll admit that I've never seen the original DOPE GAME. I did some homework and discovered that it took place in Texas, while this one is pure California. Checking the credits also shows no continuing character names from part one to part two. With that info I'll have to deduce that it's not necessary to watch part one to make sense of this one.
I have seen DRUG LORDZ, also by the Quiroz Bros. I admitted that it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. DOPE GAME 2 is completely different. We get the basic story line of bad cops running the streets. Sure these guys have a few morals. They don't like wife beaters and they won't let any dealers sell to kids. This should make them alright, but they really don't do anything redeeming in the course of the film. Instead, we get the bigger picture of sacrifice to accomplish a small foothold in the urban jungle. You may not like what the characters are doing, but if you were in their place you'd probably be faced with the same dilemma. With that in mind the characters aren't all that bad.
When I first reviewed DRUG LORDZ I said that The Quiroz Bros. showed promise. Now, with DOPE GAME 2, they have started to live up to that promise. The film is very well done. The cinematography is gritty and realistic. The scripting and acting have come a long way in such a brief period of time. Actor David Rocha improves with each film. As The Quiroz Bros. posterboy, it's good to see that he is proving himself in this latest feature.
It looks like Robert Rodriguez finally has some competition in the Hispanic genre of films. The Quiroz Bros. have finally become the film makers that they were supposed to be. With their upcoming JACK MOVEZ we should see a pair of film makers who are creating their own urban mythos with each progressive film.
Bio Info for Douglas Waltz
In the spare time afforded him between a full time job for the local phone company, Douglas is happily married with five, that's right five, children. He is a staff writer for the Print magazine Cult Cuts and does work for the webzine (www.cultcuts.net). He also publishes his own small press zine called X-Ploitation. In addition to that he's working on an annual publication of short stories from various writers called On The Night Highways. And if that wasn't enough he's about to shoot his first short film, Phone Sex, sometime this summer.