FILM & TELEVISION
The Story Of Rudy Ray Moore Eddie Murphy brings laughter to a creative time in film history
O
NE THING CRITICS SOMETIMES FAIL TO APPREciate is just how hard it is to make a feature film. Modern-day filmmaking, particularly for a Hollywood feature, requires thousands of people, each one working long hours, to create a piece of art. They are expensive, time consuming, complex media. By John DeVore Pulse Film Editor
As critics, we often focus on two or three aspects of the film—the story, the acting, and the directing. Occasionally, we might mention the cinematography or the sound design, maybe even costume design, but rarely does a review go beyond these more obvious categories. We notice when something is off, though. There’s nothing that makes a movie bad quite like poor technical construction. A boom mic floating at the top of a frame. Awkward cuts. Strange angles. Out of focus scenes. We’re used to capable filmmaking and unskilled filmmakers are usually
laughed out of a theater. But there are some filmmakers that have been terrible at making films, but somehow manage to entertain. Tommy Wiseu. Neil Breen. And of course, the king of Blaxploitation comedy, Rudy Ray Moore. Moore is different that both Wiseu and Breen, though. Moore knew he was making comedy. As absurd as his films are, he was always in on the joke. Dolemite Is My Name, a new Netflix film starring Eddie Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, tells his story with a surprising amount of heart and humor. In what is likely his best role in years, Eddie Murphy brings a distinctly human quality to Moore, who isn’t well known in mainstream culture. In the
internet age, a lot of people will likely have seen clips online of Dolemite in meme form, but they don’t know anything about the man himself. Moore was from Ft. Smith, Arkansas, but if the movie is to be believed, he left as quickly as he could to escape a life of abuse and poverty at the hands of his father. Moore was a prolific artist, if not an especially successful one. He was a consummate entertainer. He was a preacher, a singer, a dancer, an actor, and a comedian. The comedy is what led him to his first taste of success, after he developed a character based on stories he heard told by the local homeless. Dolemite is an obscene, rhyming pimp who helps the community. Moore recorded several albums as Dolemite, although none of them could be carried in stores because of their content. Moore made several cross country tours, playing to entirely black audiences in urban settings. The money he made from his albums he invested into his first feature film,
Dolemite, which is generally regarded as one of the best Blaxploitation films of the ‘70s. He made two sequels, The Human Tornado and The Monkey Hustle, as well as a new film featuring a different character, Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil’s Son-in-Law. All of his films are strange, funny, and not particularly well made. But Moore’s legacy is undeniable. He’s known as the Godfather of Rap, thanks to his strange rhyming speech style, and the modern conception of an urban pimp comes directly from Dolemite. The film itself, while as profane as the source material, is surprisingly uplifting. Murphy is as engaging as ever in his portrayal of Moore. The film, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood), clearly has a lot of respect for the characters and the story of these films. Moore simply wanted to entertain people and enjoy the pleasures of fame, and he was willing to do almost anything to achieve those goals. He tried to give his audience what he knew they wanted in a film—comedy, boobs, and kung fu. Film critics at the time blasted his films as terrible, but time proved him to be right about his audience. Dolemite Is My Name isn’t likely to win any Academy Awards. It seems a little long and needs some work on pacing, but overall it’s enjoyable. It encourages you to seek out the original films. Chattanooga could use a Rudy Ray Moore film festival. For now though, Netflix gives a glimpse into the man behind the pimp, and it’s definitely worth your time, especially for anyone with an interest in film history.
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • OCTOBER 31, 2019 • THE PULSE • 21