Dolemite Is My Name (2019)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Rudy Ray Moore	Eddie Murphy
Lady Reed	Da'Vine Joy Randolph
Jerry Jones	Keegan-Michael Key	½
Jimmy Lynch	Mike Epps
Ben Taylor	Craig Robinson
Theodore Toney	Tituss Burgess
D'Urville Martin	Wesley Snipes

Review

Anyone who enjoyed The Disaster Artist will probably also enjoy this distant cousin entitled Dolemite Is My Name. Eddie Murphy plays Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian and entertainer who found success in the early 1970s selling records of obscene stories and rhymes, and then ventured audaciously into the movie business, producing the now cult film Dolemite with little money, experience or knowledge, for that matter. As written by the writing team of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt), Dolemite Is My Name is a celebration of Moore's colourful, bawdy character. Those who have seen Larry Flynt will recognise the way this persona is written, without further comparison. And with Eddie Murphy back in wonderful comedic and dramatic form, Rudy Ray Moore comes to life not just as his character Dolemite, but also as the person behind the extravaganza. Director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) treats the material cleverly: hailing and focusing on the comedy, but never forgetting that there were real people behind it all. The film was nominated for Best Musical or Comedy and Best Actor (Murphy) at the Golden Globes, incidentally Murphy's fourth nomination in that category.