Luck is where opportunity meets preparation

Continuing my trip up The Guardians Top 50 Films of 2019

#44 : Dolemite Is My Name

Eddie Murphy’s glorious return is the richly entertaining tale of cult 70s blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore’s rise from nightclub standup to the movies

I've heard this is good but suspected it wouldn't really be my thing because I'm not the biggest fan of Mr Murphy's latest material - and by latest, I mean most things after Coming To America, which came out in 1988!

But actually "richly entertaining" is a fine description - Rudy Ray Moore had a pretty wild life story which deserved to be told, and this film does a fine job in telling it.  You don't really need me to describe the story - just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.  It's not a subtle tale (it features a surprising number of bare breasts!) but it's told with warmth, humour and sincerity.  A lot of this is down to the script which is very well put together - a winning combination of smart and filthy (I suspect they may have borrowed some of Rudy's material).  To its credit, it doesn't overuse the n word - yes, it's used from time to time but I suspect many other scriptwriters would have been more liberal in their usage.  And it's funny - and it's quite rare for me to appreciate that in a script.  There are also some quite funny action sequences and the vintage sets, cars and, especially, costumes are really well done - it's a visual feast for the eyes.

It's a role Eddie was born to play and he inhabits it well - you get the impression it doesn't require an awful lot of acting on his part, but he does dial down the excess when required.  As one critic put it "Murphy is just glorious here, deserving of an Oscar he almost surely will not get".  There are a lot of other well-known black faces in here - Chris Rock (also not acting too much), Wesley Snipes (not taking himself too seriously), Keegan-Michael Key, Craig Robinson (either Daryl from The Office or Doug Judy from Brooklyn 99 depending upon your age), Snoop Dogg (or whatever he's called these days), Titus Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and many others.  Very much holding her own with all those black dudes is Da'Vine Joy Randolph - she really does a great job and brings some much required feminine input and heart.  Also fitting in remarkably well is Kodi Smit-Mcphee in what is a slightly less serious role than he usually takes (this is nothing like The Power Of The Dog and no mistake!)

It's filmed in a very competent, understated style - something has to take a back seat behind the cast, story and costumes and the direction seems perfectly happy to do so.  For a film telling a very black story with an almost 100% black cast, I was somewhat surprised to see that the director Craig Brewster is of Irish, English and Spanish descent but he handles the story and cast well - it just feels like everyone is having a blast making it.  And I guess he got on well with Eddie because they teamed up again on Coming 2 America a couple of years later.

So - any quibbles/complaints?  No, I don't think so.  I really enjoyed this - which was a very pleasant surprise indeed.  Everyone in it is good, throws themselves into it and tells a "richly entertaining" tale.  It's well worth a watch if you're looking for something fun with a capital F (and won't mind the language or the breasts).  So let's wrap things with the tender word on Rudy Ray Moore that the film closes with - "he continued fucking up motherfuckers until the day he died".

And it's a Netflix film, so I think you can probably guess where you can find it - I thoroughly recommend giving it a go!

#45 - Not a good film
#43 - An interesting story, but a missed opportunity