Among the other things Eddie Murphy’s rapturously received new comedy has going for it, “Dolemite Is My Name” might be the movie musical of the year, in spirit, if not wholly in form.
At least, there are a few sequences where its real-life protagonist, comedian/musician/actor Rudy Ray Moore, breaks into a kind of proto-hip-hop performance mode.
The rest of the movie has nearly wall-to-wall music, whether it’s the ‘70s hits of Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone or an original score that harks back to the blaxploitation era’s funk-filled glory days.Marrying music and movies comes naturally to director Craig Brewer, who offered a more contemporary take on hip-hop with “Hustle & Flow,” and his house composer, fellow Memphis native Scott Bomar, a founder of the neo-soul group the Bo-Keys.
Plus, you’d be hard-pressed to find screenwriter-producers who know their ‘70s music better
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