I've talked about Eddie Murphy's earlier career before, not too long ago, but with him making a comeback to Saturday Night Live now after 35 years, it's more than appropriate to talk about the first feature in a while he's made alongside it: Dolemite Is My Name.
Eddie's career has certainly had ups and downs; there's fondly remembered entries like Trading Places, the afore-linked Beverly Hills Cops, Coming to America, and even some of his later family-friendly roles made their mark, as in Shrek. But along those, we have the likes of Adventures of Pluto Nash ravaging the ranks of movie execs with heart-destroying box office despair, and the occasional little abomination everyone wants to forget, like Norbit (don't remember that one? Keep it that way). It's no wonder he seems to have taken a break for the last few years to let things reset--and his return is...actually a pretty decent one.
It's not the first homage back to the days of blaxploitation (which, as silly or stereotypical as the likes of Coffy or Superfly might seem to us, is still referenced fondly by the likes of Spike Lee, being the only real depictions beyond bit parts African-Americans generally had the time). We've had spoofs like I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, and hilarious pastiches like the heartily recommendable Black Dynamite, but here, Eddie throws in a bit of Disaster Artist and, my favorite Tim Burton film, Ed Wood. Both are ultimately sincere salutes to flawed but determined artists who, despite eccentricities and cluelessness, still strived to make something, to put their art--be it what it may be--before the world.
And that's what makes this work for me--sincerity. This isn't another dumb comedy Murphy's done to pay the bills; not only is it a return to the foul-mouthed shit-talking that made him a standup star in the early eighties, but it genuinely paints a picture of someone that no doubt made an impact on him in his teenage years in the decade before. That someone was Rudy Ray Moore--the rising club performer with his bragging Dolemite persona, who one day decided to make a film about said character generally being a ludicrous Kung-fu blaxploitation badass, with pimps, explosions, and nudity for days. No great work of art (as if it matters), but he had an idea, he went out and made it not giving a damn, and, as the box office at the time shows, it worked.
Murphy embodies all the traits of Moore here, from his shows to his perfection of pronouncing the word 'motherfucker', as he gives us a pretty authentic-feeling recreation of the early seventies. There's just the right amount of real-life subtext here that gives it that right level of weigh--Rudy has had his ups and downs, and wants to make another comeback, as does Murphy. Joining up with his friends, a high-aiming playright (Keegan Michael Key), and an uptight actor too eager to sell his bit part in Rosemary's Baby (Blade himself, Wesley Snipes), he goes and makes his film despite having no clue how to actually make one. Like Ed Wood himself, though, what matters is making the damn thing, by whatever things they can cobble together.
I'm sure there's probably a fair bit of artistic license about the making of the film, but it doesn't really matter; what does matter is that Murphy gives a role I can really get into for the first time in years. The supporting cast is great, especially Da'Vine Joy Randolph as his leading lady, and it's peppered with cameos from the likes of Chris Rock and Snoop Dog. Some of those might be a little distracting, and there's some minor complaints to make--like Snipes' D'Urville Martin veering around in what his character seems to want--but it's largely picky.
Dolemite Is My Name doesn't necessarily break that much mould when it comes to movies about movie production, but it definitely stands up there, and I'm glad Murphy has given us something that really feels like it comes from somewhere, as opposed to just phoning it in again. It's a good one to come back with, and he's already shot a Coming to America sequel. Whether that one will hit home also is something yet to be seen, but for now, I can definitely recommend this one for a Netflix viewing. Eddie might not be the red jumpsuit-clad young cat he once was, but even in middle age, he's not done yet...
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