Dope queen Jessica Williams is using her talents in a Netflix original movie called The Incredible Jessica James. But is the movie as dope as its queen?
Taking a lead from The Incredible Jessica James, I’m going to rate the movie’s dopeness on a scale of 1-5. Five being Beyoncé dancing in her “Formation” video and pretty much every day of her life (so dope AF). One being The Emoji Movie‘s current rating on Rotten Tomatoes (which is 6% by the way).
The Cast = 5 on the Dope Scale
Jessica Williams plays Jessica James like she’s a second skin. She takes the sarcasm she perfected from her time as a correspondent on The Daily Show and melds it well with the ease she evokes on her podcast 2 Dope Queens, which she hosts twice a month in Brooklyn with her friend Phoebe Robinson.
You already have the indelible Jessica Williams playing the titular role. What more do you need?
Chris O’Dowd for one, who won me over for his role as Officer Rhodes in Bridesmaids. He’s got that same cutesy charm that’s just so endearing. Even though Jessica walks into their blind date with the idea that she’d never go for a divorcée who’s ten years older than her, she can’t help but like him.
Playing Jessica’s bestie is Noël Wells, who made an impression as Dev’s would-be forever plus one in the first season of Master of None. She’s light and bubbly, which is exactly what the cynical Jessica needs when she feels like the world’s about to crush her.
They all gel together nicely, and while O’Dowd has already done his part to break into the film industry, I hope to see more of Wells and Williams.
The Story = 3 on the Dope Scale
Written and directed by Jim Strouse, who penned the likes of The Hollars, The Incredible Jessica James follows Jessica, an aspiring playwright, as she navigates the rough waters of being a professional artist in New York and moving on after a break-up.
It starts off with a bang as Jessica blatantly tells her Tinder date that she only agreed to go out with him because he asked her if she wanted to bang him. But she doesn’t know if she even wants to be here right now. Plus, she suggested this restaurant because her ex-boyfriend always comes here.
Jessica’s obviously not over her ex, played by talented Lakeith Stanfield who’s made some very memorable turns in Get Out and Atlanta,to name a few. But getting over him seems to get easier after she meets Boone, played by Chris O’Dowd, who’s just as messed up about his ex-wife.
While the chemistry’s there, the love story doesn’t really seem to take off. Maybe that’s because it seems secondary to the subplot of Jessica’s goals as an artist. She’s a playwright who tapes her rejection letters to the wall as a reminder of her failures and teaches young kids how to write plays in Hell’s Kitchen for her day job.
When you have a female character who chastizes a dude for manspreading in the subway, unabashedly admits to her date, “I’m pretty dope,” and creates a baby book called “The ABC’s of the Patriarchal Paradigm,” you wish that she were in a romcom where she doesn’t have to find validation in a man.
That’s what happens despite the set-up of Jessica’s life as a thoughtful, independent artist. In the end Jessica gets everything she wants—the man and the gig, but it seems too easy. Jessica’s pretty dope on her own even though she’s a mess. She doesn’t need a relationship to become even more of a dope mess.
Overall Average Score = 4 on the Dope Scale
Story could’ve been more dope, but Jessica Williams shines as I knew she would.