Triumph of the DIY spirit
Rudy Ray Moore and his friends made a movie. Dolemite was its name.
And the story of the making of that wild-ass movie just shot directly into the conversation about the best films of 2019.
Eddie Murphy brings his career best game to the role of dreamer, entertainer, and entrepreneur Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite Is My Name. We open with Rudy hustling to get his records some airtime on the radio and getting absolutely nowhere. He’s working a day job at a record store and MCing at a nightclub to introduce his friend’s band. Nobody seems to want what Rudy Ray Moore is selling. But it’s not long before Rudy’s tenacity and ingenuity shine through and he ends up crafting a character based on the prison humor of some homeless gentlemen that he befriends. Dolemite is born, and starts to pick up steam. Unfortunately, none of the record companies want to buy his comedy album. So Rudy sells it out of his trunk. Then a record company comes calling when Rudy’s hustle proves successful. Rudy can’t stop until the whole world knows his name, however… so next he wants to make a movie. But nobody wants to fund the movie, so he gets a loan from his record label against ownership of his records, and he sets about making his own damn movie his own way. Unfortunately, nobody wants to BUY Rudy’s movie, until Rudy hustles again and… you know what? You get it! The system has absolutely no place for someone like Rudy Ray Moore, but through sheer force of will Rudy will push against that system to see his dreams realized.
One simple element contributing to the greatness of Dolemite Is My Name is the kindness and genuine friendship on display. Far from a movie about vanity or ego, this is a film about a unique and determined guy who wants to prove his abusive father wrong by making something of himself in the world. And dammit if he won’t bring his friends along and provide a hand up to a number of new friends along the way. The most potent and touching of those friendships is found in Rudy’s collaboration with Lady Reed (Da’Vine Joy Randolph in an absolutely stellar breakout performance). It’s Lady Reed and Rudy’s friendship that provides the film with its most emotionally potent moments as the two spur each other on to bigger and better things. Reed provides Rudy a female co-star for his acts and Da’Vine Joy Randolph injects the raw feelings of a black woman taking a risk to provide for her family. Their interactions feel genuine and Lady Reed’s humanity really shines through the film and provides an emotional argument for the importance of inclusion in such a way that feels organic and never forced.
But Rudy also taps into the strengths and resumes of all his friends to bring them along for the ride. And what a cast it is that makes up this coterie. Craig Robinson is Ben Taylor, who will do all the music for him (and who will take orders from no white man). Keegan-Michael Key is the respectable playwright Jerry Jones who will get past his incredulity and jump on the Rudy train. Mike Epps’ Jimmy Lynch will provide wardrobe, and Tituss Burgess’ Theodore Toney will handle accounting. A chance encounter with established star D’urville Martin (Wesley Snipes in a full-on Oscar worthy scene-stealing role) will provide the crew a little star power and handing him the director’s reins is the final dangled carrot to force his hand. Martin never quite buys into what the rest have, but through his drunken, detached stupor, he does offer Rudy the occasional wisdom and galvanizes the crew with a “fuck him” spirit after he leaves the set for good. As all cinephiles know, movies don’t get made without a team, and Dolemite Is My Name gets down to the business of depicting the communal aspect of filmmaking in an entertaining and rewarding way.
That spirit of kindness that shines through Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski’s script (they also wrote Ed Wood) also carries over into the hard-R rating of the film. Yes, the word “motherfucker” is used hundreds of times, but it’s with a poetic flare. Yes, there are breasts and strip clubs and sex scenes, but all of that seediness becomes fodder for inspiration. A playing ground from which Rudy can find material for his character and talent to fill out his crew. Perhaps Dolemite Is My Name sidesteps any deeper dimensionality or complicated motives that Rudy may have had, but it’s all in service of a film that chooses to inspire and act as a love letter to the indomitable spirit of DIY filmmakers, not to mention that same spirit found in people of color. And as an intentional goal, that feels timely.
Director Craig Brewer keeps this film feeling energetic and propulsive throughout. It’s kind of astonishing how well this white man is able to tell African American stories and collaborate to create iconic and fleshed out black characters. But he does it again here with an effortless feel. And the production design flawlessly recreates a time and place any fan of Blaxploitation cinema will recognize and love. Oscar winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter might very well find herself in contention for another Academy Award as well. What I’m trying to say here is that Dolemite Is My Name weaves a fantastic narrative and is backed up by a top notch crew. This is a feel good film about filmmaking (the Academy loves those stories) on a collision course with fuckin’ up the Oscars.
And I’m Out.