Dolemite Is My Name [Film Review]

All kinds of clichéd remarks come to mind when thinking about this movie. “Eddie Murphy was born to play this role.” Sure. “Don’t call it a comeback”. Perhaps (but it kind of is). “The best Eddie Murphy movie in years.” Totally true. The list goes on. Yet all you really need to know is that Murphy and ensemble are on point, delivering a well-paced, wonderfully acted, and incredibly funny film about Blaxploitation legend/superstar/cult figure Rudy Ray Moore aka Dolemite.

I am a little bit ashamed to admit that I have as of yet never watched a Dolemite movie. I own a re-issued soundtrack album compiling the music from his films and I think I might have one of his comedy albums floating around in my vinyl vault, but I have never seen one of the man’s films. I primarily know about him via rap music and hip-hop culture, and have seen clips over the years, but that’s the extent of my RRM/Dolemite knowledge. So I have no idea how truthful this dramedy is and how much is just made up. But regardless of that, one thing is for certain: this film is damn entertaining.

At the heart of the film is a pretty standard rags-to-riches story about a man one could say is lacking in talent, but not lacking in heart and sheer tenacity. A man who rises from the sidelines of low-rent comedy clubs to the headlining act of those very same clubs. A man who would, like Melvin Van Peebles and Tom McLaughlin before him, help change the face of independent filmmaking in America.

What isn’t standard is the acting from all involved. While Murphy is center stage, he has surrounded himself with a top-notch group of supporting players. Craig Robinson not only displays deft comedic dryness, but also a slick and funky musical side. Wesley Snipes is downright glorious with a subdued over-the-top performance. And Da’vine Joy Randolph is simply sublime. The cast is rounded out by some solid smaller performances from Snoop Dogg, Mike Epps, and Keegan-Michael Key.

If you grew up during the Golden Age of rap music (the early ‘80s-to-the-mid-‘90s) or are merely interested in the often crass, but no less inventive streetwise and bred oral histories that helped begit one of America’s premier(and truly original) musical artforms, then you owe it to yourself to check out this film. Even if you have no idea about signifying or The Dozens and hate rap, you should still check this film out, if only for the mesmerizing performances of Mr. Murphy and company. Oh, and the killer ‘70s funk and soul drenched soundtrack.

Rating: 3.5/5

RIYL: Black Dynamite; Eddie Murphy: Raw; the novels of Iceberg Slim; the music of Ice-T; the music of Too $hort