Screenplay Written by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
Directed by Craig Brewer
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
RATED R
The first time that I had ever heard of Rudy Ray Moore, or better yet, his fictionalized alter ego, the larger than life urban hero, pimp and nightclub owner Dolemite, was in Reginald Hudlin's "House Party" (1990) and shortly thereafter in Bruce W. Smith's "Bebe's Kids" (1992), his animated film based upon the comedy of the late, great Robin Harris (who incidentally was the figure w ho uttered the name of Dolemite in "House Party"). While I was certainly, or at least I felt to be, quite well versed with my knowledge of comedians, and Black comedians at that, the legend of Dolemite was completely foreign.
Eddie Murphy, on the other hand, is legendary to the point where there is no need to go into his full legacy as it is exceedingly well known. But as he relates to my own life, I feel so fortunate to have seen Murphy's ascension from its infancy as a featured player on the then barely functioning "Saturday Night Live," the iconic late night series, it could be argued, he almost single handedly saved from its own extinction. I was but 13 years old when Murphy made his electrifying screen debut in Walter Hill's "48 Hrs." (1982) which was then followed by nothing less than John Landis' masterful satire "Trading Places" (1983) and Martin Brest's action comedy box office behemoth "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984).
Eddie Murphy has been such a fixture within our pop cultural landscape, it is rather difficult to remember a time when he was not part of it...even if you hadn't witnessed it from the beginnings first hand. That being said, there has always existed an element of mystery to the man himself, a mystery that has increased over the years as he has indeed had periods where he purposefully retreated from the limelight, always without drama and only to reappear to amaze us all over again.
It is more than fitting that after another lengthy period of being away, Eddie Murphy would re-emerge with a "Dolemite Is My Name," an enormously entertaining project that has ended up being not only his best film in many years, it is a work that simultaneously serves as a tribute to an inspirational artist as well as existing as a possible window into Murphy himself.
Set during the early 1970's, "Dolemite Is My Name" stars Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, an aspiring, fast talking, exceedingly tenacious yet aging artist who just cannot seem to break through the noise to get his voice out into the world where even the radio station inside the record store in which he is employed as a clerk refuses to play his independent singles, and the nightclub where he moonlights as an MC is reluctant to allow him perform his stand up comedy act.
Inspiration strikes at the record store when a frequent homeless visitor named Ricco (Ron Cephas Jones) enters the establishment extolling loud, vulgar rhyming proclamations while invoking the name of "Dolemite." After later tracking down Ricco and recording his arsenal of stories, Moore soon arrives at the notion of creating a character based upon these street rhymes and musings. Now finding a cane, adorning himself within pimp attire, a wig and a fully in character swagger and flash, Rudy Ray Moore's Dolemite hits the nightclub stage and instantly wins over the audience.
From here, we witness The rise of Moore/Dolemite as his entrepreneurial spirit inspires him to make his debut comedy album in his living room, which he self-releases from the trunk of his car, an act that soon catches the attention of a local record company who then, distributes the album, which then affords Moore the opportunity to take his show on the road in the deep South, thus earning him more fans, record sales and the subsequent recording and releases of more comedy albums.
And yet, Rudy Ray Moore's sights keep seeking even higher.
Feeling in a celebratory mood, Moore, alongside his friends and collaborators, Jimmy Lynch (Mike Epps), Theodore Toney (Tituss Burgess) and musician Ben Taylor (Craig Robinson) take in a screening of Billy Wilder's "The Front Page" (1974). While the predominantly White audience thoroughly enjoy the film, Moore and company do not, feeling completely perplexed, and ultimately, excluded. Yet, Moore, staring at the flickering lights from the theater projector, finds newfound inspiration: to create a movie based on his Dolemite character.
Using royalties from album sales as a means to fund the movie himself, Moore with his friends, plus single Mother and singer Lady Reed (an excellent Da'Vine Joy Randolph), local playwright Jerry Jones (Keegan-Michael Key), White film school students from UCLA and most audaciously--and found in a strip club, no less--D'Urville Martin (a superbly sly Wesley Snipes), an actor from Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), reluctant, consistently skeptical yet miraculously convinced to direct this Blaxploitation, kung-fu accented action comedy thriller.
Craig Brewer's "Dolemite Is My Name" is an absolutely joyous film, filled end to end with bold verve, gleefully brash and vulgar comedy that is augmented with a sincere poignancy centered around the themes of inspiration, collaboration, representation, and the intense need to be seen in a world that does not wish to regard you, especially if you are poor and Black.
These qualities ensure that this film serves not only as a perfect companion piece to Brewer's debut film "Hustle & Flow" (2005), but also to the cinematic odes to the sense of community when creating together as witnessed in the better parts of Kevin Smith's "Zack And Miri Make A Porno" (2008) and definitely Michel Gondry's wonderful documentary "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" (2005) and his gently satiric and undervalued "Be Kind Rewind" (2008).
While I know that quite a number of reviews have compared this film to the likes of Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" (1994), which incidentally was written by the screenwriters of "Dolemite Is My Name," I do, however, disagree with the fullness of that comparison. For me, what Craig Brewer has created feels like more of a hybrid between Mario Van Peebles' "Baadasssss!" (2003), his excellent docu-drama of the making of his Father, Melvin Van Peebles' '"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" (1971) and Frank Oz's "Bowfinger" (1999), co=starring and written by Steve Martin and also co-starring Eddie Murphy in two roles.
Unlike Ed Wood and even the sorts of foolishness as depicted in James Franco's "The Disaster Artist" (2017), both Brewer and Murphy ensure that Rudy Ray Moore is never depicted as being an individual that possessed not one iota of talent--that is, despite the ridiculousness of what he was trying to place upon screen, especially the ineptly filmed action sequences featuring his pseudo kung-fu moves.
On the contrary, what we view in "Dolemite Is My Name" is a man bursting at the seams with invention, innovation, and an inspiration that feeds his collaborators as much as himself. He respects his friends and associates, is fully aware that he is unable to achieve his dreams single-handedly, and consistently demonstrates that he would go above and beyond, in order to keep them happy and inspired. In turn, when his own confidence wanes or begins to buckle, his good will is returned to him in full, thus re-inspiring him to push further.
Rudy Ray Moore is presented as a fiercely uncompromising talent--a comedian clearly doing the very material that he finds hysterical himself and yet, he is also serious enough to be unwilling to pander, to water down, and most importantly, to reject the community from which he came and the one he feels indebted to represent and perform for--because representation is everything in a world that refuses to see you. Moore understands that opportunity is not a given, and indeed, he does carry quite the chip upon his shoulder. But, wen he truly connects to his own sense of bullish tenacity, and when he realizes that doors are unwilling to open themselves for him, then he will kick those doors down, allowing himself to blaze the path forwards for himself.
Having Eddie Murphy portray Rudy Ray Moore is both obvious and ingenious and Murphy truly is having a whale of a time as he delivers a performance so openly funny yet multi-layered in quality that it functions as a reminder and as a testament to the brilliance of his titanic gifts. Like Moore, Eddie Murphy's arrival and rapid ascension in the early 1980's felt like to be nothing less than a force of nature--again, one in which he connected with us on his terms, without pandering, watering down or even taming his Black-ness for the mass acceptance of White audiences....i.e. the incendiary, country and western bar sequence in "48 Hrs."
Also, like Moore, Eddie Murphy has forged his comedic history largely through losing himself within a variety of characters, so often underneath make-up and latex as witnessed in SNL's "White Like Me" short film, to the cavalcade of characters in John Landis' "Coming To America" (1988) and Tom Shadyc's "The Nutty Professor" (1996), for instance.
And yet, with "Dolemite Is My Name," it feels that while Murphy is indeed delivering a performance that feels on the level of his ferocious, vintage work, it is also a film that seems to pulls back the veil on this comic legend that we feel that we know through his public persona but is in actuality a more subdued and exceedingly private individual in reality. I do wonder that when he seems to vanish from public view and then, re-emerges if he ever feels any sense of trepidation or even doubt in his abilities or better yet, his abilities to reconnect with audiences. Now that Eddie Murphy is nearly 60 years old and already possesses essentially 40 years in show business, it would not be unusual to contemplate that he has nothing left to prove or to lose, and therefore, no reason to get back into the arena, so to speak.
Yet this film is indeed being perceived as the opening salvo to a slate of high profile future projects which has already included his much heralded return to "Saturday Night Live," his upcoming sequel "Coming 2 America" (also directed by Craig Brewer) and a potential new stand up comedy special for Netflix and possibly a tour. Yet, was it just me, or did he seem to be a tad nervous when hosting "SNL" again for their Christmas show? Was it just me who detected an unusual sense of humbleness where his massive swagger once owned whatever stage he placed his feet?
It was that feeling that lurked throughout the broadness of "Dolemite Is My Name," the perpetual feeling of failure, that existential sadness of wondering and worrying if life has indeed passed you by, even if it hadn't "happened" yet. We have had the pleasure of witnessing this level of vulnerability within Eddie Murphy once before in his wonderful, tragic performance in Bill Condon's "Dreamgirls" (2006). Yet, for this film, we do not have a rise and fall trajectory. We have a potential "dream deferred" narrative, where his determination and perseverance stems from his fear of failing as much as his belief in himself.
Sequences where Rudy Ray Moore goes over his lines, working and re-working them in private. Another where he confesses to Lady Reed his fear of shooting a sex scene the following day. Watching his sense of desperation, anger and sorrow arise during moments when the entire enterprise seems as if it will fall apart and never come to its fullest fruition. Eddie Murphy hits the pathos of Rudy Ray Moore, the fragile human behind the larger than life pimp brilliantly and in doing so, I cannot help but to wonder if he is indeed showing us a taste of himself in turn, the soul behind the legend. In doing so, Murphy allows "Dolemite Is My Name" to reach higher an deeper than it ever needed to and entirely for our benefit.
Craig Brewer's "Dolemite Is My Name" is a film that goes full circle as there would be no Eddie Murphy if not for what Rudy Ray Moore created and accomplished and we can see how they were kindred comedic spirits, discovering and delivering the very images and characters that made them laugh and slap their own hands together themselves.
And with that fire in the belly, twinkle in the eyes and a wealth of dirty jokes at the ready, we are all graciously invited to the party...and you know, it just hit me...this film is a work of gratitude, from Rudy Ray Moore to his fans, from Eddie Murphy to Rudy Ray Moore..and possibly from Eddie Murphy to all of us.
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