Our take
This Eddie Murphy comedy had all the ingredients to be both a famous movie and an award-winner, but neither happened. It tells the true story of Rudy Ray Moore, a comedian who became famous for creating a character called Dolemite, a pimp, and who later attempted to make his own movie based on the same character. Murphy plays Rudy, but there are also other recognizable faces in supporting roles: Chris Rock, Wesley Snipes, Keegan-Michael Key, Snoop Dogg, and many others. It’s above all a funny movie, but being Eddie Murphy’s first R-rated movie since 1999, it’s also a realistic portrayal of both 1970s L.A. and the struggles of being a black filmmaker at the time.
What it won
Golden Globes
3 noms
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
The story
The story of Rudy Ray Moore, who created the iconic big screen pimp character Dolemite in the 1970s.
Elsewhere
"Craig Brewer's film similarly romanticises the dream factory that is cinema. So, it is not just a loving tribute to a counterculture-inspired genre but also to the dreamers whose determination and desire far outweighed their skills and knowledge."
— Prahlad Srihari
"Everything clicks in the comedy Dolemite Is My Name - it's almost alarming how easily, breezily, larkishly the film goes down."
— David Edelstein
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.
