YMMV / Dolemite Is My Name

• Award Snub: The film was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy, but lost to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and was a complete no-show at the Oscars. Eddie Murphy did end up taking home the Razzie Redeemer award for his efforts.
• Awesome Music: "Ballad of a Boy and Girl", which plays in the scene after Rudy and Lady Reed first meet, is a fun, raunchy song, as well as being very well-performed by Eddie Murphy and Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Wesley Snipes as D'Urville Martin, who steals the show in every scene he's in thanks to his flamboyant and sardonic performance.
• Funny Moments:
  • During a scene in which Moore is being filmed doing incredibly terrible "kung fu":
    D'Urville: Is there any angle that you can shoot this where it looks like he's actually kicking him?
    Nicholas: There is no such angle.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • In the Where Are They Now segment at the end, it's revealed that Rudy Ray Moore's rhyming style was adopted by rappers in the 80s, leading him to be declared "The Godfather of Rap."
  • How Dolemite gets picked up for distribution; turned down by a number of studios, Rudy is given the opportunity to do a midnight screening for $500 out of his own pocket; he proceeds to sell out multiple showings after some self-promotion to the extent Dimension Pictures call him sheepishly asking for a meeting to discuss nationwide distribution. Rudy is then able to pay back his record company who helped fund the picture and Dolemite proceeds to break the top ten pictures of the year and pulls in more than ten million dollars.
  • The official "premiere" of Dolemite is so successful that crowds are lined up round the block waiting to get in to see it. Rather than going to watch the premiere (since he's already seen it), Rudy decides to hang out with and entertain the waiting crowds while in-character, even giving a young fan his pimp cane and some encouragement to pursue his dreams.
    Rudy: (as Dolemite) Hello, all you motherfuckers! (cheers) Yes, ladies and gentlemen. I just want to say it’s a pleasure to have y’all come out here tonight, but I’m sorry to tell you, it’s going to be a bit of a wait! (groans) But don’t worry. Don’t nobody leave, because I promise you it’s going to be worth it! Because like I always say, Dolemite is my name, and rapping and tapping is my game. Yes, I’m young and free, and just as bad as I wanna to be! Take a look at me! I’m a rare specimen of a man, don’t you agree? I want you to live the life that you love and love the life that you live! From the frantic Atlantic, to the terrific Pacific, be the best of whatever you are. Shoot for the moon, and if you miss it, hang on to a motherfucking star.
• Spiritual Successor: To Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski's Anti-Great Men Trilogy (Starting with Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt, and Man on the Moon) Unlike those three films, this focuses on one specific project and has a happier ending.
• Win Back the Crowd: For Eddie Murphy, this movie serves as both a long-awaited return to the R-rated comedy that made him a star in the 80s as well as the prestige material that he was previously praised for in Dreamgirls.
  • Played straight in the film; when Rudy debuts the Dolemite persona and his "Signifying Monkey" routine, he manages to win over the skeptical audience and the club owner after his previous attempts at emceeing fell flat.

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