1. The critical consensus on Eddie Murphy's new movie Dolemite Is My Name is that it's a paint-by-numbers biopic redeemed by a strong performance by Murphy. And that's right. But it's a little bit better than that -- Murphy excellent performance alone makes it worth watching.
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2. Murphy's career, successful as it has been, has always had a tinge of tragedy because he's only rarely been given parts commensurate with his talent. In Dolemite, he has that with Rudy Ray Moore, a kind of spiritual father that Murphy perfectly recreates.
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3. What gives Dolemite an extra layer which lifts it above being a competent crowdpleaser is the element of autobiography. The film is really Murphy's Apologia Pro Vita Sua, an account of why he picked the life of profane comedy & big tent movies.
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4. No less than Richard Pryor, Rudy Ray Moore is Murphy's precursor & father figure: a vulgar street comedian who draws his energy from the vibrancy of vernacular insults & confrontations. The film is Murphy's tribute the the tradition that made him.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
A thornier bit of convergence is in how Moore, after his death, was widely described as either gay or bisexual; but, the only mention of homosexuality in the film is blurted by a supporting character, who Murphy-as-Moore shuts down saying ‘nobody wants to hear about that’...
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The movie really is a disguised autobiography.
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