What if you could earn $50/hour in an entry-level job with no degree requirements and plenty of flexibility? Sound tempting? —What if that job were selling drugs? 50 Cent, Eminem and more are featured in this compelling documentary.
One of Tribeca Film’s latest documentaries, How to Make Money Selling Drugs, examines the American war on drugs through the eyes of the very people who sell them. The daring film, which was directed by Matthew Cooke and produced by Entourage star Adrian Grenier, may at first glance read like a cheeky Dealing Drugs for Dummies manual, but it’s lighthearted tone succeeds in making this serious subject matter approachable. Structured like an arcade game replete with Levels and Bonus Points, the film provides candid interviews with former drug moguls, dealers, and even celebrities such as 50 Cent, Eminem, Susan Sarandon, and Woody Harrelson. In his director’s statement, Cooke explains his choice to humanize those we often cast aside as criminals. The filmmaker challenges his audience to understand that dealing drugs is “what the black- market offers those who see no other option.”
How to Make Money Selling Drugs educates while it entertains, and in time may achieve the filmmaker’s goal of making people more comfortable to talk about the taboo subject. The film’s eye-catching style will appeal to younger generations who are, after all, the future lawmakers and voices of our rapidly changing country. In one memorable scene, “The Wire” creator David Simon gives a candid account on how drug war corruption inspired his searing look at crime in Philadelphia. Indeed, Cooke insists that “It’s a war on people, waged particularly against minorities and the poor.”
The Tribeca Film opened June 26th at the IFC Center in New York, and will be available on VOD June 18th. For more information please visit http://tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm/filmguide/how-to-make-money-selling.
-Brigid Ronan
