Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
“Make your own legend” declare the posters for Craig Brewer’s Dolemite Is My Name, recently arrived on Netflix, and it is hard to disagree that the film’s subject, Rudy Ray Moore, didn’t do just that.
Moore, who passed away in 2008, worked just about every job imaginable in the entertainment industry seeking some kind of breakout moment, spinning his wheels in a seemingly fruitless quest that took him to every rundown, beat-up night club and stage available.
But Moore finally found the perfect vessel for his talents when he adopted the stage persona ‘Dolemite’, adapted from the dirty stories and tall tales he heard from local drifters and street-folk. The Dolemite of Moore’s stage act was a boisterous pimp who spoke in elaborate rhymes to tell the dirtiest stories and jokes imaginable, and pretty soon the character landed Moore a successful record contract and a massive audience.
The story of how Dolemite led to Moore betting his future on a Dolemite movie, made primarily by himself and his friends despite their severe lack of money and experience, forms the narrative spine of Dolemite Is My Name, stars Eddie Murphy as Moore. The film is Murphy’s first onscreen appearance since the little-seen Mr. Church in 2016, and is only the fourth live action appearance Murphy has made in cinemas in ten years (there’s also a Shrek or two in there, but he probably recorded his lines for that in a half hour on a cell phone).
Joining Murphy’s Moore on his mad quest for movie immortality are an all-star ensemble including Mike Epps, Craig Robertson, Keegan-Michael Key, Tituss Burgess, the radiant Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and a positively deranged Wesley Snipes as Dolemite’s reluctant director, D’Urville Martin.
With a script by oddball biopic auteurs Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (they’ve done Ed Wood, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon and…. also Agent Cody Banks and Goosebumps?) and direction from Two Cents alum Craig Hustle & Flow/Black Snake Moan Brewer, Dolemite Is My Name has been delighting audiences this fall and even drummed up some serious awards buzz for Murphy.
So let’s kick out all the rat-soup eatin’ motherfuckers who might try and read this, and then find out what the gang had to say about Dolemite Is My Name! — Brendan
Next Week’s Pick:
You can’t keep a good franchise down, and the sexy girl-power of Charlie’s Angels is returning to screens again — with that girl power extending to the director, Elizabeth Banks.
The classic TV series was adapted to the big screen in the eponymous 2000 smash hit starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu and colorfully directed by music video producer “McG”. 2003’s even crazier CGI-splashed sequel, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, amped up pretty much everything from the first film — and got lambasted for it.
With the EXTREME style of the early 2000s in our rear-view mirror, will Full Throttle play better as a product of is time? Or does incoherent plotting and style-over-substance still overshadow pure adrenalized ansanity? You tell us! — Austin
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Our Guests
Chris Chipman:
Eddie Murphy. Wow. How fitting a role for a guy whose brand has gone outdated/tried to wear different hats to stay relevant. When I heard of Eddie Murphy’s comeback (comedy specials, movie role buzz) I was cautiously optimistic, I mean Murphy has had a rough time of it. I am pleased to say BELIEVE THE HYPE, Dolemite Is My Name is the real deal and Eddie Murphy is giving both the performance of his career and at the same time reminding us all why he is a comedic master.
I am a sucker for movies about filmmaking, especially when they are about the joy of making film told through the underdog. Dolemite Is My Name ranks up their with the likes of Ed Wood, One Cut of the Dead and Eddie Murphy’s own underappreciated Bowfinger as the type of film that makes you just want to go make movies, regardless of your actual talent or what could go wrong behind the scenes.
The supporting cast is also incredible, with Wesley Snipes also giving a career high performance IMO. Don’t miss this one folks! (@TheChippa)
Over here in 2019 it’s easy to forget that Eddie Murphy was once the biggest movie star in the world. His fast-talking charm had a way of completely owning the screen in a way few others could match.
Dolemite Is My Name is a great reminder of how great Murphy can be. He is transfixing as Rudy Ray Moore, utilizing his charm to incredible effect as an unlucky dude who will never stop trying to break through. You’re with him within seconds, and he’s a big part of what makes Dolemite Is My Name so incredibly fun and heartwarming.
The movie itself is mostly a standard underdog story, and there are very few characters that feel well rounded, but that all falls by the wayside on the film’s heart. With that said, shout-outs to Wesley Snipes and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who just shoot off the screen.
In a weird way, Dolemite Is My Name almost feels like a meta picture. It’s hard not to root for Murphy to pull off this movie. You start watching him just own every scene, and then you start remembering how great he was, and how you want more of it. By the end, you’re hoping that everyone is seeing what you’re seeing and that Murphy will be everywhere soon enough. It mirrors the journey Moore takes in the film. (@hsumra)
The Team
“Move over and let me pass, before they have be to pullin’ these Hush Puppies out your motherfuckin’ ass!”
My first taste of the jive talking pimp came from the 1997 Voodoo Glow Skulls album, Baile de Los Locos. Several clips from the first Dolemite film appeared on tracks from the ska punk band’s third full length album. From there, I found a cheap used VHS copy of the film, but it sat in my collection until freshman year of college when I saw ICP’s Big Money Hustlas and remembered that I had the VHS at home. The next weekend, I went home, picked it up, and watched the fuck outta Rudy Ray Moore’s debut gem. My love affair with Dolemite and all things Rudy Ray Moore then took full swing.
Craig Brewer’s new Rudy Ray Moore biopic is a fantastic tribute to Moore and his legacy. A star studded cast who kills it start to finish, a killer soundtrack, and a ton of laughs, this film is gold. It’s a return to form for Eddie Murphy, for sure, but the other performances are equally brilliant. It’s about as entertaining a film as I’ve seen all year… but now I need to go queue up Human Tornado and get outta here, ya dig? (@thepaintedman)
Ed Wood remains probably the best film ever made about filmmaking (it’s that or 8½, right?) and Dolemite Is My Name taps into that same energy, ably conveying how the communal creation of art, even what might be considered low-rent, crappy art, can serve as healing and catharsis for those involved. With Murphy’s masterful performance as its true North Star, Dolemite Is My Name does a remarkable job illustrating how even something that might get lumped into the ‘so bad, it’s good’ category (which is a disservice to the very fun Dolemite, but regardless) was hugely meaningful and personal to its creators.
The key scene is one that finds Murphy’s Rudy alone, trying to rehearse his Dolemite rants but not being quite able to land the cadence. When he begins to focus on the rage he still feels towards his long-gone father, suddenly the character clicks into place, and suddenly the character of Dolemite, for so long an avatar for the ludicrous swagger and larger-than-life attitude of blaxploitation cinema, now exists as an extension of oh-so human frailty and insecurity. It’s a brilliant turn, and there are not enough words to express how completely Murphy nails these moments. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
Since the announcement that Craig “Black Snake Moan” Brewer would be directing a Dolemite-themed Rudy Ray Moore biopic, well — there’s no part of that sentence I didn’t like, so you know I was 100% on board.
I’m pleased to know the result is just as wonderful as I’d hoped, the most simultaneously emotionally resonant and filthy film since, well, Black Snake Moan. With a terrific ensemble cast and clear love for blaxploitation cinema, it’s a perfect vehicle honoring a legendary comedian as performed by another legendary comedian, reminding us why we love both of them so much.
I’m a little surprised at the drubbing of D’Urville Martin (fabulously played by Wesley Snipes), a hilarious genre favorite that I always love to see light up the screen in classics like Sheba Baby and his many collabs with Fred Williamson. A lesson there, I suppose, that film history is always so much richer than what you can read on IMBD.
There’s also a wee bit of cheating in the storytelling to sneak in some favored Rudy bits — I’m positive some of the purported “Dolemite” scenes shown are actually from The Human Tornado, but they help sell the overall narrative of Rudy’s legend so I can understand why they were included.
Minor foibles aside, Dolemite is my Name lives up to both its promise and its premise, and is likely to remain one of my top 5 films of the year.
Side note for you born-insecure ratsoup-eatin’ motherfuckers: Cornbread, Earl, and Me is actually great. (@Austin Vashaw)
Further Reading:
https://cinapse.co/fantastic-fest-2019-dolemite-is-my-name-and-fuckin-up-the-oscars-is-my-game-dd89dd2efb4bhttps://cinapse.co/fantastic-fest-2019-dolemite-is-my-name-and-fuckin-up-the-oscars-is-my-game-dd89dd2efb4bhttps://cinapse.co/fantastic-fest-2019-dolemite-is-my-name-and-fuckin-up-the-oscars-is-my-game-dd89dd2efb4b
Next week’s pick: