In a virtually all-white Iowa town, Flip daydreams of being a hip-hop star, hanging with Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre. He practices in front of a mirror and with his two pals, James and Trevor. He talks Black slang, he dresses Black. He's also a wannabe pusher, selling flour as cocaine. And while he talks about "keeping it real," he hardly notices real life around him: his father's been laid off, his mother uses Food Stamps, his girlfriend is pregnant, James may be psychotic, one of his friends (one of the town's few Black kids) is preparing for college, and, on a trip to Chicago to try to buy drugs, the cops shoot real bullets. What will it take for Flip to get real?
Acting
Danny Hoch's committed, deeply uncomfortable Flip.
Direction
Levin's documentary-style sting of real consequences.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes wannabe slang brilliantly.
Director
Marc Levin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released the same year as The Matrix and American Pie, this Sundance curiosity was immediately buried—too raw for comedy crowds, too satirical for drama audiences.
Dre and Snoop's cameos aren't endorsements; they're Greek chorus judgment, silently watching these kids cosplay their actual lives.
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