That was an excellent one.

Simply Perfect

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Dolemite (1975) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) is a hard-hitting pimp who is serving twenty-years in prison after being framed by some dirty cops. The warden tells him that evidence shows he might have been set-up so he allows Dolemite out of prison if he agrees to help track down someone passing guns and drugs in the streets. Soon Dolemite is going up against gangster Willie Green (D'Urville Martin).DOLEMITE was a late entry in the blaxploitation boom of the 1970s when people like Richard Roundtree and Pam Grier became stars. Rudy Ray Moore made his debut in this film and he would make a handful of other films but there's no question that he'll always be remembered for this role. For the most part this is a mildly entertaining film, although I doubt you'll find anyone that will try to say that this is some sort of classic or even a good picture.What makes this film work is the performance from the lead star. Yes, it's not Oscar-worthy material but it wasn't meant to be. The point of a film like this is to have fun and I must say that I thought Rudy Ray Moore was a lot of fun and especially early on when he's screaming out countless one-liners and many of them are quite funny. He's certainly very believable in the role of this pimp and he keeps the film moving at a nice pace.For the most part the film is entertaining but there's no question that the first half is much better than the second. For some reason the movie just runs out of gas around the fifty-minute mark and it never picks up. There are some really long and boring stretches including some bits inside Dolemite's club. These scenes towards the end of the movie just drag on and go nowhere so they could have easily been cut.DOLEMITE isn't a classic blaxploitation movie but if you're a fan of the genre then the star makes this worth watching.

I'm not a genre expert, and enjoy blaxploitation films for their campiness, outrageous characters and jargon that has been lost in time. The enjoyable part of Dolomite is his rapping to the crowds and their reactions. I betting this is where urban rap contests started, but I could very well be wrong. The silly, over-the-top situations that litter the genre are all there, but there's really nothing else notable for story line, acting, script, etc. In fact, if you like that sort of thing, that's where Dolomite shines. Presumably made on a shoestring budget with few cameras, little editing, and technical gaffes everywhere, this seems as low budget as the genre gets. The acting is sub high-school play, the choreography is laughable - literally, and story is paper thin. I realize this is standard for the genre, but this dips into humorously bad so much any seriousness is lost. I liked it for that, and it's quirkiness, but compared to other blaxploitation entries, it is sub-par.

The blaxploitation genre certainly produced some bizarre oddities that's for sure. Dolemite is firmly in this category. On a technical level its appalling, with bad camera work, acting, action and story. The boom mic is visible so often that it really deserves a mention in the credits. But these considerations are ultimately irrelevant. In fact, the sheer scale of the cinematic incompetence is certainly one of the actual joys of the movie. The film-makers just didn't care and seemingly knocked this one out with little concern for such matters.The rough and ready style of Dolemite kind of seems appropriate though, given the nature of the central character, who is a super-shady bad mutha in a pimp suit. This character, Dolemite, spends most of the film swearing in creative ways. His routines are like proto-rap and seem to have influenced hip-hop culture. The movie is really a superb time-capsule flick. The insane fashions and jive talk are all almost alien in their bizarreness now. While the movie sports various other strange characters such as Reverend Gibbs, the mayor and the Hamburger Pimp. The latter of which actually appears to be out of his head on something or other – I don't think this bloke was really acting! There's also an extended scene near the end in a nightclub that really has to be seen to be believed. It has a priceless performance from a soul act and a crazy dance routine with some guy battering hell out of a drum-kit, it then climaxes with Dolemite's swearing rap thing. It's strange, like the movie in general. This may be super-trashy but it's highly original. It's yet another example of why the 70's ruled when it came to movies.

A blaxploitation classic, this movie was terribly influential in rap music for the "toasts" that Rudy Ray Moore performs. Toasts are long rhyming stories that are funny and deliver a point, and you can see how they would naturally evolve into rap. For more on toasts, Rudy Ray Moore, and why this movie is important, go to Dolemite.com.Which leaves us just to talk about the movie itself. This movie packs in a great deal of "laugh-at-the-funny-outfits-and-hairstyles" bang for the buck, as nearly every shot has some sort of outrageous element or dialogue. It starts as Dolemite is being released from prison in order to find out who framed him and bring him to justice. I was unaware that prisons release people so they can prove their own innocence, but that's me, I'm a neophyte in the prison scene. He is helped in this by Queen Bee, who is Dolemite's lead prostitute and has been running his brothel while he's been gone. She has also put all of his prostitutes through karate school, so now he has an army of female karate fighters.I watched this movie in two parts, which is usually a mistake, but in this case it provided an interesting contrast. The first part I watched on my lunch break while exercising, and wasn't enjoying it much at all. It struck me as particularly poorly made blaxploitation, with a ludicrous story, shoddy craftsmanship—well, I guess that makes it sound like it had SOME craftsmanship—and tons of outrageous locales, outfits and dialogue. But I wasn't enjoying that—in fact, it kind of made me feel dirty. Let's face it, a white guy watching something like this to laugh at the outfits and the things the characters say is essentially getting an enjoyment out of it that is racist: how ridiculously those black people dress, what silly things they say. I wasn't really enjoying it, wasn't laughing, and wasn't looking forward to watching the rest.Later that night, when I was in a "much more relaxed state," I watched the rest—and legitimately loved it. Like Disco Godfather, which I had watched a few days previously, this has a warmth and sweetness at its core that makes it likable even when it's silly or violent. The character of Dolemite has an element of self-parody about him that makes the whole thing fun, and the appearance of several actors who were also in Disco Godfather implies that we're watching the group effort of a bunch of friends who just want to make something fun together. Even the poor dubbing, karate fights, and everything else just makes it that much more charming.What I find interesting about the Dolemite films is that they have some moral ambiguity I don't see in other blaxploitation films, and certainly in very few mainstream films. In this one, there is an African-American woman who gives a speech about the (white) Mayor, saying "he has done more for the black community than anyone." We later find out that the Mayor is, surprise, corrupt, but I like that the movie would present this woman as essentially misguided and not try to "redeem" her in some other way. There's also the figure of the Hamburger Pimp, who is presented as a useless junkie, and no one makes an effort to find some redeeming, socially positive angle to what he is, he just is. In Disco Godfather the religious character Lady Reed plays is presented as just nuts for wanting to pray for her child, hopelessly lost to angel dust. I like that the films would present such harshly critical portrayals of people in their own community without sugar-coating or trying to redeem them to make them more palatable.There are a lot of hootworthy elements, such as when Dolemite says "Move over and let me pass, or I'm gonna be pulling these Hush Puppies out your muthatf** a**." There is Queen Bee reaching over and answering the phone: "Dolemite's Total Experience." And you will not be able to miss (though you may wish to cover your eyes) the extended nude scene by the REPULSIVE Mayor. I am all for mustachioed pervy older men, but even I have limits—-and my limits are usually a few miles past most people's, so be warned. The DVD I had is clearly edited, which is noticeable in certain of the dialogue scenes, and at the end, when Dolemite's killing of a major character with his bare hands obviously excludes the main event.If you do get the DVD, however, be sure to watch all three trailers for the Dolemite films, as they are a hoot. I wasn't going to watch The Human Tornado, but after seeing that trailer, you'd better BELIEVE that I am. Also, there is a scene in the Dolemite trailer that I don't remember from the movie when Dolemite swings at a Mexican-looking thug, obviously misses, and the guy flips himself into a nearby car trunk.After watching the first half, I was going to say to skip this and watch Disco Godfather, as the film-making and story has marginally improved, but after really enjoying the second half, I would advise watching this one over Disco Godfather, as this one is even more exuberantly fun, outrageous, and good-natured—and has those toasts which, even if one doesn't understand the roots and nuances of the form, are still something to see.--- Check out other reviews on my website of bad and cheesy movies, Cinema de Merde, cinemademerde.com