2019 TIFF Movie Review: DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (USA 2019) ****

September 15, 2019 festreviews Tiff 2019, TIFF 2019 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized 2019 TIFF Movie Review, Craig Brewer, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, Eddie Murphy, film reviews, Keegan-Michael Key ., Kodi Smit-McPhee

Eddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.

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

1997 Movie Review: METRO, 1997 (Eddie Murphy)

October 6, 2017 festreviews 1997 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized 1997, 1997 movie review, Art Evans, Denis Arndt, Donal Logue, Eddie Murphy, James Carpenter, Jeni Chua, Kim Miyori, METRO, Michael Rapaport, thomas carter

METRO, 1997
Movie Reviews

Directed by: Thomas Carter

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport, Kim Miyori, James Carpenter, Art Evans, Donal Logue, Jeni Chua, Denis Arndt

Review by Russell Hill

SYNOPSIS:

Roper, a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber escapes and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars. The ending is played out with Roper and his partner McCall attempting to rescue Roper’s kidnapped girlfriend. A major element in the plot is the relationship between Roper and his girlfriend.

REVIEW:

I am always thankful to the BBC for their late night films. Not only do they show movies which otherwise escape many people’s attention but the movies which they do show star some bone-fide legendary actors and actresses which shout out to you that you should be watching this movie; this can certainly be said about this movie in particular.

A respected yet unorthodox hostage negotiator, Inspector Scott Roper (Murphy) is at the top of his game. Resolving any tricky situation with whatever approach he believes is best, he might not act by the books but Roper gets the job done. To his dismay, a new hostage negotiator arrives in town and it is down to Roper to teach Kevin (Rapaport) how it’s done. Not only does Roper have this to deal with but also a former-bank robber who has been released and has a vendetta against Roper. Who will survive?

Although his career has gone downhill recently, it is only the “Shrek” movies which have saved his career and given it a new lease of life. Eddie Murphy was once the funniest man in Hollywood but has lost that edge thanks to many forgettable roles. This film is not one of them and shows one of his last great films that he has appeared in.

One actor whose career has not dwindled is Rapaport. Regular in work, in the other films and television shows I have seen him appear in he has excelled and after looking on his profile on http://www.imdb.com he has appeared in nearly ninety different projects in just over two decades. This man’s workrate is nothing short of remarkable; maybe Murphy should take a leaf out of his book and not keep his expectations so high?

The director at the helm is Thomas Carter. A respected director who has worked for over thirty years, he directs the high-pace action extraordinarily well. There are multiple scenes where cars come crashing over one and other along with Trams smashing into whatever comes to hand. For action sequences to be shot in this convincing way is remarkable and if there was ever another “Die Hard” film (with one rumoured to be released in 2012) then Carter should be considered to front this.

Not one of Murphy’s most well-known films, this should be corrected as the comedy which he displays is top-notch and with support by the likes of Rapaport and directed by Carter this is a must-see for anyone who prefers their ‘cop’ movies to be fast-paced and full to the brim with action scenes.