'Dolemite Is My Name' Featurette Shines A Light On The Real Blaxploitation Icon

Throughout his long career, Eddie Murphy has played quite the assembly of characters, even going so far as to play about a half dozen of them in a single movie. But one role he's never taken before is that of a real person. That changes with the upcoming comedic true story Dolemite Is My Name, inspired by comedian Rudy Ray Moore and his rise to fame as a Blaxploitation movie star who paved his own way through Hollywood. Now, a new Dolemite Is My Name featurette talks about the man himself.

Though you might not have heard of Rudy Ray Moore before this movie started getting pushed by Netflix, he was a major influence on the rise of black filmmakers, actors, comedians and even hip-hop artists. This featurette has cast members like Eddie Murphy, Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Snoop Dogg and more talking about his influence and what makes his story worth telling.

Behind the camera, we have director Craig Brewer and writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs. O.J. Simpson), all of which felt compelled to tell the story of Rudy Ray Moore, especially with someone like Eddie Murphy in the lead role.

This looks like such a big step up for Eddie Murphy, who hasn't made a movie worth seeking out in a long time. Combine this with his return to Saturday Night Live, the forthcoming arrival of Coming 2 America and his rumored return to stand-up comedy, and we could be looking at a massive comeback for the comedian. If you don't believe me, watch the trailer right here.

Stung by a string of showbiz failures, floundering comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Academy Award nominee Eddie Murphy) has an epiphany that turns him into a word-of-mouth sensation: step onstage as someone else. Borrowing from the street mythology of 1970s Los Angeles, Moore assumes the persona of Dolemite, a pimp with a cane and an arsenal of obscene fables. However, his ambitions exceed selling bootleg records deemed too racy for mainstream radio stations to play. Moore convinces a social justice-minded dramatist (Keegan-Michael Key) to write his alter ego a film, incorporating kung fu, car chases, and Lady Reed (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), an ex-backup singer who becomes his unexpected comedic foil. Despite clashing with his pretentious director, D'Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes), and countless production hurdles at their studio in the dilapidated Dunbar Hotel, Moore's Dolemite becomes a runaway box office smash and a defining movie of the Blaxploitation era.

Dolemite is My Name arrives in select theaters on October 4 and hits Netflix on October 25, 2019, but we'll have a review out of the Toronto International Film Festival very soon.