Dolemite Is My Name

I can’t remember the last time I saw Eddie Murphy, so I was curious about his comeback. It’s a decent black biopic based on the 70s blaxploitation star Dolemite. The main character makes his living as a stand up comedian and doesn't do too well at first, but once he hears the funny stories of the local homeless people he adapts them, passes them off as his own and it becomes an unexpected hit and a quest for fame. Wesley Snipes and Keegan-Michael Key are are very good, and Snoop Dog and Chris Rock make cameo appearances in smaller roles. I unexpectedly had fun. 80%. (05/11/2019)

Tree years later and Eddie Murphy stars in a role that is definitely worth seeing and is slightly different from the roles we are all well used to see him star in. For me, Dolemite is a concept of which I have never heard of but now it is evident that I would put it together with movies such as Ed Wood or The Disaster Artist. And I would definitely like to see the original one day! The filmmaking aspect of this movie is worthy of 3 stars but when Dolemite itself starts to be filmed it strongly reminds me of Bowfinger. Eddie makes exactly the same faces and parodies Kung Fu in exactly the same way. I don’t know if this melancholic return to Bowfinger didn’t make me turn a blind eye to the quality of this movie but in the end I rated it with 4 stars, which this movie deserves. (18/12/2019)

This feel-good movie with a likeable ensemble ably brightens up the faded stars Murphy and Snipes. It draws you in with high-quality filmmaking and dirty jokes, and then it gradually slips into unsurprising clichés with no greater goal than to provide relaxing entertainment. (24/12/2019)