Dolemite Is My Name

“DOLEMITE IS MY NAME” is a loud, obscene, heartfelt, funny and at the same time quite entertaining film. Starring Eddie Murphy as grandfather of rap and stand up comedy Rudy Ray Moore, film tells story of down on the luck singer who decides to ramp up his routine by taking a persona of foul-mouthed, outrageous, charismatic pimp named Dolemite.

Why film worked for me was not that this was considered a comeback role for Eddie Murphy. And not even because it has an incredible supporting cast (Wesley Snipes, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Bob Odenkirk, Chris Rock, even Snoop Dogg being utterly hilarious). And definitely not because of feel-good screenplay. No, what struck me the most was the heart Murphy specifically and everyone else has poured into making this film.

And this heart is visible from the first scene all the way till the end. It is obvious how much respect and reverence they have for Rudy Ray Moore and his antics, that even film starts diving into some kind of quasi-parody style there is still some brains left on the table. We know Murphy is a great actor, but he really enjoys clowning (much like the rest of the cast), but in DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, even when they are clowning all the way it is done with class and appreciation. So much that even me, a person who has never ever heard of Moore or Dolemite was immediately drawn into the story and ended up reading about him and watching some of his performances.