Dolemite Is My Name (2019) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Craig Brewer

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Keegan Michael-Key, Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, Snoop Dogg, Craig Robinson, Mike Epps, Tituss Burgess, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Ron Cephas Jones

Rudy Ray Moore is singularly focused on obtaining show biz success by any means possible.   He made some raunchy comedy albums back in the day, but by the early 1970's, Rudy is working in a record store; his early recordings forgotten.    At age 47, he is looking for one last big break, and stumbles across it in the form of a wino who frequents the record store bugging the customers for change.

Rudy learns the winos who hang around the corner from the store have funny stories to tell, and he supplies them booze and listens to them, incorporating them into a self-made comedy album which becomes an unexpected hit.    He then adds musical rhyming poems to his live shows and years later was dubbed "The Godfather of Rap".   Despite a strong following and a tour, Rudy craves more recognition.    He decides to make a movie starring himself as hip pimp Dolemite, the character he created on his comedy albums.    He hires an assortment of has-beens and never-wases to star, write, and direct, while begging, borrowing, and stealing to ensure the movie is completed.  

The finished product reminds me of a movie Bob Bowfinger would've been proud of, but it isn't the point whether the movie (also titled Dolemite Is My Name) is good or not.   What matters is the nerve and determination Rudy showed in getting it made and distributed at all.    But, get it made and shown in theaters he did, and it became a hit.    Rudy and his friends would make seven more films, and I'll bet they had a ball doing it.  

Dolemite Is My Name is a return to form for Eddie Murphy, who spent the better part of the last twenty years starring in family-oriented comedies and disappearing for long stretches from the movie scene altogether.    In the middle of all of this, he scored an Oscar nomination for his role in Dreamgirls (2006) and then followed up with Norbit and Meet Dave.   It hasn't been an ideal twenty years for an actor and comedian as funny and talented as Murphy.  

We can't help but root for these people who only want a taste of showbiz success.    Because Rudy and his cohorts aren't supremely talented, they need to claw and fight for their piece of the pie.   Murphy and his co-stars form a family who fight, argue, bond, and sweat together, but ultimately love each other.    This is what helps Dolemite Is My Name transcend its biopic origins and transform into something special.   

I thought of 2017's The Disaster Artist, which documented the making of the cult film The Room, which is unseen by me but said to be one of the worst films ever made.    Opinions are subjective, and the point isn't that a bad movie was made, but that one was made outside of the studio system and biopic movies are being made about them.    When was the last time you saw a movie made about someone who derided Dolemite Is My Name or The Room?   Let me know when you find it.