Dolemite Is My Name (2019) Netflix/Comedy-Drama RT: 118 minutes Rated R (pervasive language, crude sexual content, graphic nudity) Director: Craig Brewer Screenplay: Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski Music: Scott Bomar Cinematography: Eric Steelberg Release date: October 11, 2019 (Philadelphia, PA)/October 25, 2019 (Netflix) Cast: Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Wesley Snipes, Snoop Dogg, Aleksandar Filimonovic, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Chris Rock, Ron Cephas Jones, Luenell, Gerald Downey, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tommie Earl Jenkins. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ****
First of all, I’d like to extend a huge welcome back to Eddie Murphy. For the past 20+ years, he’s been pissing away his talents on unfunny crap like The Nutty Professor II (the first one wasn’t even all that), The Adventures of Pluto Nash (wth?), Norbit (a crime against humanity) and Imagine That (just painful). It would be easier to list the decent movies he’s made during this period of family-friendly entertainment: Bowfinger (it’s funny), Dreamgirls (he should have won the Oscar) and Tower Heist (he was part of an ensemble). I am really hoping that Dolemite Is My Name will put Murphy’s career back on track. In it, he plays Rudy Ray Moore, the comedian famous for creating the cult character Dolemite in the 70s. It’s his best performance in years. Moreover, it’s the best movie he’s starred in since Coming to America in ’88.
For those not in the know, here’s a brief lesson in blaxploitation history. As part of his routine, Moore would tell rhyming tales of the pimp Dolemite, the “baddest m.f. who ever lived”. Following the success of his comedy albums, Moore decided to make a movie featuring the character. Despite the universal bad reviews from critics, it became one of the most successful movies of 1975 and a cult favorite. This is the story of the birth of Dolemite and his big leap to the big screen.
It makes perfect sense that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski were hired to write the screenplay for Dolemite Is My Name. 25 years ago, they performed the same duty for Tim Burton on Ed Wood, an outstanding biopic of that purveyor of trash Edward D. Wood Jr of Plan 9 from Outer Space infamy. Their take on Moore is equally excellent. It could be argued, based on Dolemite and its 1976 sequel The Human Tornado, that Moore is a black version of Wood. Both of them were hustlers. They were tenacious and passionate about their projects. Neither one had any conventional talent nor did they seem aware of it. Call them delusional or call them determined; either way, they both had cinematic dreams that they ultimately achieved. The sheer badness of their product equaled staying power. People still watch Plan 9 and Dolemite.
ANYWAY, here’s a rundown of what goes down in Dolemite Is My Name. The title, by the way, comes from one of Dolemite’s most famous lines: “Dolemite is my name and f***ing up mother f*****s is my game!” In the beginning, Moore can’t seem to catch a break. He can’t even get the DJ (rapper Snoop Dogg) at the L.A. record store where he works to play his 45s (he tried his hand at being a singer too). Then one day, he finds inspiration in the most unlikeliness of places, the stinky, toothless neighborhood wino (Jones, This Is Us) who regales people with tales of Dolemite. Moore sits down with him and his cronies and pays them to spin their yarns around a roaring garbage can fire. He records them, listens to them and makes them his own. The first time he takes the stage in the guise of Dolemite is the moment when he finds his calling as a performer. He starts out selling homemade comedy albums from the trunk of his car until a record company calls asking to represent him.
The idea of making a Dolemite movie comes to Moore after he and his friends take in a showing of the Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau comedy The Front Page. They hate it. Moore observes that it has “no titties, no funny and no kung fu”, none of “the stuff people like us wanna see”. A Dolemite movie would have all that and more so he gathers up a crew of usual types (a la Ed Wood), among them Lady Reed (Randolph, Empire), a plus-size woman he meets during one of his gigs at a chitlin-circuit comedy club after she decks her man for stepping out with another woman. He hires theatrical director Jerry Jones (Key, The Lion King) to write the script. The scene where they brainstorm story ideas is a highlight. Jones wants to write something that spotlights the problems (e.g. drugs, gang violence, white racism) faced by people living in the ghetto. Moore wants to add a team of kung fu prostitutes. Thankfully, they nix the idea of including an exorcism.
Another great scene is where Moore and his friends- composer Ben Taylor (Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine), actor Jimmy Lynch (Epps, Next Friday) and money guy Toney (Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)- approach actor D’Urville Martin (Snipes, Passenger 57) to ask him to co-star as bad guy Willie Green. A legit actor known mainly for blaxploitation flicks like Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem, he’s insulted by their casual, presumptuous proposition…. that is, until Moore offers to let him direct. Snipes, in the movie’s other great comeback performance, plays Martin with a blend of superiority and bemusement. This lower-than-low budget movie is clearly beneath him but it’s amusing to watch Moore and his cast and crew flail and blunder.
Okay, so we know the end to this story. The movie gets made and ultimately becomes a success after a struggle to find a distributor. Nobody wants Dolemite; it even gets turned down by Crown International which is really saying something. Still, I really LOVE Dolemite Is My Name. It helped that I watched Dolemite and The Human Tornado a week earlier. I could sit there and laugh at recreations of scenes that were already unintentionally funny. However, it also enabled me to pick up the new movie’s BIG mistake. Scenes from The Human Tornado, like the scene where the redneck sheriff has his cheating wife murdered by his deputy, are passed off as scenes from the first movie. It doesn’t ruin Dolemite Is My Name but it certainly stands out for those in the know.
Let’s talk some more about Murphy’s performance. It’s great, no doubt. He may not look or sound like Rudy Ray Moore, but director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) has him going for something else. Murphy perfectly captures the essence of the person that was Moore, much the same way Anthony Hopkins did playing the title role in Nixon. We see that he was a good and decent man with maybe a little bit of ego, but never at the expense of throwing his friends over. He was clearly loved as evidenced by the scene where Lady Reed thanks him for giving her confidence by showcasing women that look like her in his movies (she played Queen Bee in both movies).
All of the performances in Dolemite Is My Name are great; this is especially true of Ms. Randolph and Mr. Snipes. But it’s Murphy who really and truly shines as Rudy Ray. I could even see another Oscar nomination. I’d like to say that it’s the beginning of a new chapter for him as an actor but I’ll hold off on that for now. His next movie (due in December 2020) is Coming 2 America. After that, he wants to do a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie. In the name of all that’s holy, Mr., Murphy, I beg you NOT to do another Axel Foley flick. Leave it alone; the last BH Cop movie SUCKED! It’s time to move on and take on more mature roles like Dolemite Is My Name. Please stay in R-rated territory; don’t make any more fart joke-filled movies where you appear in fat suits or as multiple characters. It’s great to have you back; please give us a reason to keep on appreciating your return.
