DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (2019)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Why this movie was not made a decade ago or longer I'll never know. "Dolemite is My Name" is the perfect comedic role for Eddie Murphy, based on the real-life comedian/filmmaker known as the Godfather of Rap, the late Rudy Ray Moore. This is a delectable match made in heaven and I am glad to say it is one of the best Eddie Murphy movies ever made. We can all now forget "Norbit" and his shortchanged role in "Tower Heist" - Eddie Murphy electrifies the screen and proves once again, with the right script and director, he can knock our socks off.
Set in the 1970's at the height of the blaxploitation era, Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy) wants to make his mark in the world, to showcase his talent beyond just making comedy records with "ghetto expressionism." He works at Dolphin's of Hollywood record store in L.A. and is consistently bothered by a homeless man named Rico who is a street-talking raconteur. Moore also works at a nightclub where his emcee standup barely causes a rift in between singing engagements. One day, Moore is inspired and takes notes while recording Rico's stories. Thus, at the local nightclub, Dolemite is born, a pimp who tells the audience all sorts of profanely (accent on the profane) funny rhymes, the kind you don't want to recite to grandma. Moore was always somewhat racy but this kind of profane humor mirrors Eddie Murphy's own rawer than raw days from 30 years ago.
But the story does not end there - Moore wants to make a Dolemite movie with boobs, action, violence and kung-fu. Rather than the straight "Shaft" movies or the various blaxploitation efforts by cigar-chomping Fred Williamson, he wants to play it for laughs, procuring a local playwright of serious drama to pen the script, Jerry Jones (Keegan-Michael Key). Ray knows zilch about directing and eventually gets D'Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes) to direct - a filmmaker known for having appeared as an elevator operator in "Rosemary's Baby." To say D'Urville is reluctant to take part in an amateur flick is to be polite - he resents being there and hates the script. Clearly, the film is done for laughs to the point that a raucous sex scene breaks down the ceiling in an obvious soundstage, not to mention watching Ray beating up villainous minions with no grace or style whatsoever (Jim Kelly he's not). Everything that could go wrong, should go wrong yet surprisingly it all works out.
"Dolemite is My Name" is delirious fun, wackily written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, both of whom penned the equally hilarious and inventive "Ed Wood" back in 1994. "Dolemite is My Name" would be the perfect double bill on low-budget, non-Hollywood filmmaking with "Ed Wood" - both films feature zanily enthusiastic filmmakers who want to entertain, at any cost. Whereas Ed Wood was a dubious creator who had an insane vision of the world, Ray Moore wants the audience to have a good time, to give them their money's worth. When he watches the premiere of the film with hundreds of spectators, he has the widest grin of self-satisfaction, reciting the dialogue to the crowd with a zeal that is contagious.
With a gallery of colorful supporting performances from the likes of Snoop Dogg, Chris Rock, Da'Vine Joy Randolph (truly a star in the making as a single mother who joins his crew), Craig Robinson and reliable pros like Bob Odenkirk as a film producer and a truly spry Wesley Snipes, "Dolemite is My Name" is purely engaging, foul-mouthed fun with a new spin on the oft-told filmmaking stories we have seen countless times before. If there is one thing I miss, it is those notable moments of truth that Eddie sometimes allows us to peer in. Still, let's not get too critical - Eddie Murphy is infectious, and so is the movie. Funny is his game once again.
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