Curator Watchlist
A lively, crowd-pleasing comeback vehicle that turns a scrappy showbiz origin story into a celebration of Black creativity, hustle, and self-belief. It’s funny, warm, and buoyed by a strong central performance, even if it plays more like an affectionate victory lap than a deep biographical study.
Where to watch: Buy
Fri · 1h 58m
Director: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Da'Vine Joy Randolph
The story of Rudy Ray Moore, who created the iconic big screen pimp character Dolemite in the 1970s.
Craig Brewer
Eddie Murphy, Wesley Snipes, Da'Vine Joy Randolph
A lively, crowd-pleasing comeback vehicle that turns a scrappy showbiz origin story into a celebration of Black creativity, hustle, and self-belief. It’s funny, warm, and buoyed by a strong central performance, even if it plays more like an affectionate victory lap than a deep biographical study.
Dolemite Is My Name is the kind of movie that knows exactly how much fun its story should be having. It takes Rudy Ray Moore’s improbable rise and frames it as both a comeback tale and a tribute to the power of making something outrageous, imperfect, and unforgettable on your own terms.
Eddie Murphy gives the film its spark, leaning into Moore’s swagger without losing the vulnerability underneath it. The supporting cast helps sell the sense of a ragtag creative family building a movie from sheer force of will, and the film’s affection for performance, audience response, and cultural visibility gives it real warmth.
It’s not especially interested in nuance or historical precision, and some of its biggest pleasures come from how shamelessly it embraces the myth of the thing. But that’s part of the charm: this is a movie about believing in a persona so completely that it becomes a legacy. For viewers in the mood for an exuberant, feel-good showbiz story, it lands hard.
demi adejuyigbe (4★) · 1298 likes
Easily the silliest movie that has almost brought me to tears. A fun, easygoing movie about what even the most ridiculous films can mean to people. The Disaster Artist found dead in a ditch.
Karsten (4★) · 1065 likes
One of the most enjoyable films of the year. Dolemite is my Name fills it’s runtime with as much energy as it can, even moments that need a minute to catch their breath feel like they have something exciting to offer. I don’t think I’m the one that needs to tell you this but Eddie Murphy delivers a performance that never loses your interest. The cameos, the music, the energy of it all, sure it might not be saying a whole lot but it’s hard not to have a great time watching this.
Patrick Willems (4★) · 889 likes
I missed Eddie Murphy so much
Sean Baker · 665 likes
Murphy and Snipes are great. Lots of LOL moments and the premiere scene was moving for me. I'm a big fan of the original films so this was especially fun for me as a genre film geek. But being close to the originals also made it harder for me to accept the many artistic liberties taken. Although the film is about the making of Dolemite (1975), most of the iconic scenes that we see being shot in the film are
SilentDawn (4★) · 582 likes
79 "I'm so grateful for what you did for me, cause I'd never seen nobody that looks like me up there on that big screen." A film about visibility and creativity, about being up on the silver screen for the sake of being known and understood. One of the funniest movies in a long time, and oh so joyous.
A classic companion piece about an outsider filmmaker whose enthusiasm outruns his resources, with the same mix of affection, chaos, and movie-making devotion.
Shares the pleasure of watching a wildly improbable creative project come together through ego, friendship, and sheer stubbornness.
Another glossy, emotional story about performance, ambition, and the costs and rewards of chasing stardom.
A loving, hilarious riff on blaxploitation style that pairs well with the film’s celebration of genre excess and Black cool.
The essential source text for the legend, useful for viewers who want to see the raw, low-budget energy that inspired the biopic.
A joyful cult favorite built on swagger, self-invention, and the power of a larger-than-life screen persona.
A sharp comedy about Black performers navigating an industry that wants them boxed in, with similar themes of visibility and self-definition.
More biting and confrontational, but thematically resonant in its focus on race, performance, and the entertainment machine.
A big-hearted showbiz saga about talent, hustle, and the emotional toll of trying to make it in entertainment.
A polished, star-driven music biopic that also centers a singular performer’s force of personality and cultural impact.
If the appeal is the rise-and-fall mechanics of a music-and-show-business legend, this is the funniest alternate version.
For viewers drawn to the inspirational, against-the-odds momentum and the satisfaction of a comeback narrative.
underdog ambition, Black creativity, show business, comeback story, cultural visibility, self-mythology, independent filmmaking, performance and persona
biographical comedy-drama, showbiz, feel-good, underdog, Black cinema, 1970s, comeback, indie filmmaking, blaxploitation, crowd-pleaser