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.
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.
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.
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.
