From start to end this is Eddie Murphy’s movie.  He commands screen presence and captures audience attention with his personal touch in this entertaining biopic of comedian Rudy Ray Moore, who became a legend in midlife with his outlandish 1970s Blaxploitation character Dolemite.  Murphy’s life followed Ray Moore’s in a way which makes him perfect for playing the character.

The film tells the story of Moore, a struggling singer and comedian working in a record store in early-1970s Hollywood.   Every type of hustler populates the neighbourhood, most with a wicked repertoire of obscene insults. Moore begins picking up their patter, drawn from the rich African-American tradition of “the dozens.”

He creates a stage character, Dolemite the pimp, records some especially profane routines, and soon rockets from shop clerk to ghetto superstar. It is when he starts making movies that the real film begins.  Director Brewer and Murphy make the prefect combination i the creation in might what be the most outrageous and entertaining biopic of the year.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws1YIKsuTjQ