Review of Dolemite Is My Name (2019) by Jordanlayton — 28 Apr 2020
Need a lesson in 70s black standup? DOLEMITE will fill your cup. Craving an honest take on blaxsploitation? DOLEMITE will bring you elation. How bout a love letter to grass roots film making? DOLEMITE is time worth your taking.
Eddie Murphy melts right into this exciting portrayal of a lesser known piece of comedy, cinema, and even rap history in a performance and script worth making this comeback for. I am astounded just to what degree by the end of the film how little I saw Eddie Murphy and how much I saw DOLEMITE.
This performance should be celebrated and it was a joy to watch. This film really does have something for everyone and I came out of it having learned quite a bit about 70s black stand-up, the blaxsploitation genre, and the feeling of producing a feature with next to no money behind it.
It is a dramatization of course, but I left with a drive to dig into Wikipedia pages and YouTube videos I never would have before to learn more (not to mention a plan to watch 1975's Dolemite on Amazon Prime).
'Dolemite Is My Name' is on Netflix right now. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly encourage you to watch it so we get more Netflix original films of this caliber and less of the Tall Girl' variety..
. This is a triumph and I sincerely hope it gets nominated with the big names this year.
This review of Dolemite Is My Name (2019) was written by Jordanlayton on 28 Apr 2020.
Dolemite Is My Name has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
