Dolemite Is My Name

“…and fuckin’ up motherfuckers is my game!” Who doesn’t love Dolemite, eh? Rudy Ray Moore’s larger-than-life character was cribbed from a schtick from a homeless patron of the record store he was working at and grew into something of a blaxploitation phenomenon, spawning comedy bits, records, and a series of feature films. Hell, Moore is often credited as developing a primordial form of rapping in his couplet-based delivery of Dolemite’s braggadocious proclamations. Moore’s rise to stardom is a colorful story, one ripe for cinematic interpretation, and hopes were high for Dolemite Is My Name.

The story is a simple one, following Moore’s struggles toward fame, climbing from his day job at a record store and night gig as a lowly emcee to his breakout with the Dolemite character. And I think the problem with the film lies with just how simple and straightforward that story is and how it’s told. We’ve seen basically this exact story before when Tim Burton decided to shine a quirky light on the exploits of Edward D. Wood, Jr. fifteen years ago, and that was given a stylistic treatment designed to evoke the feel of cheesy sci-fi flicks of that era. Here, there’s a little bit of ‘60s and ‘70s flair, but there’s no tangible atmosphere, it just feels like we’re going back in time via film. There’s a surprising lack of color or flash to the visuals and the storytelling, a real letdown considering the subject. Everything is strictly workmanlike, bland, even if decidedly entertaining thanks to the characters.

Speaking of which, the high point of the film is likely the performances, which give us both Eddie Murphy and Wesley Snipes actually showing some effort for the first time in what feels like forever. I credit the dirty language as just as much of an inspiration for this verve as his obvious interest in the man he’s portraying (let’s be real, Murphy’s family-friendly approach just never really worked). Murphy’s Moore is desperate to make it big and get his name out there, often in spite of the disinterest from the rest of the world. Snipes may be taking a bit of an exaggerated turn as actor/director D’Urville Martin, complete with caricature-ish mannerisms, but he’s certainly going for it here, and that’s a feat in an of itself these days (he actually reminds me a bit of his To Wong Foo performance here). Similarly quality performances can be found from Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Lady “Queen Bee” Reed, Keegan Michael-Key as writer/actor Jerry Jones (man, he was real different before he bought the Cowboys), and the glorified cameos from the likes of Chris Rock, Snoop Dogg (Snoop Lion?), and Bob Odenkirk. Craig Robinson’s take on the theme from Dolemite is spot-on, something I feel needs to be pointed out, even if it’s a rather minor bit in the grand scheme of things.

Thing is, these performances all serve a decidedly well-trod narrative, and precious little in the way of creativity is shown on the part of the fiilmmakers. It’s all still entertaining, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve seen this picture before, dozens of times, and there’s nothing to differentiate this take from all of the others. Perhaps if Moore’s desire for fame and fortune were part of some bigger message (he’s truly adamant about making it big, often sacrificing and pinching every available penny, and it seems as though things were gonna go somewhere regarding the prices of fame and how shallow such dreams can be when compared to greater things, but, nope, none of that), or if there were more in there about the sequels and his decline from notoriety, but all we get is the usual underdog-overcoming-adversity-and-becoming-a-star story. Cool. Again, there’s still the benefits of fun characters and good performances, but the lack of depth is palpable and disappointing. I’d almost recommend watching Dolemite and the sequels instead, but there’s still something to be gleaned from this outing in the way of context and some laughs, so I’m not gonna tell yinz not to watch this film, just to keep expectations somewhat low. Regardless, you’re bound to find something to like and smile at here, and I suppose that’s so much more than can be said about other films these days, so it’s more than worthy of your time.