'Dolemite Is My Name'

When Eddie Murphy is firing on all cylinders, being funny and charming and in command, he’s hard to stop — and in the new biographical story “Dolemite Is My Name,” it’s great to see him keep on going.

Murphy plays Rudy Ray Moore, who is introduced as a struggling comedian and musician in 1970s Los Angeles, working as emcee in a blues bar and a cashier in a record store. He hits on a great idea, adapting old-school African American street tales into a character, Dolemite, pimp extraordinaire. His routine is an instant hit, and soon he’s recording albums that are best-sellers, even though they’re too rough to get radio play.

What’s the next step for Moore? Why, movies, of course. The bulk of the movie centers on Moore willing himself into being the producer and star of a Dolemite movie — enlisting a socially progressive playwright (Keegan-Michael Key) to write a script, a vain and alcoholic actor (Wesley Snipes) to direct, and a bunch of UCLA film students to act as the crew.

Director Craig Brewer (“Hustle & Flow”) mines the rich vein of ‘70s culture, and the blaxploitation genre that Moore accidentally exemplified, for a fast-paced Kodachrome spectacle. The screenwriting team of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski are masters at comical biography — they were the guys behind “Ed Wood,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and “Big Eyes” — and their chronicle of Moore’s career and influence is an exuberant delight.

The movie boasts a strong roster of comic talent, including Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Mike Epps, and particularly Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Lady Reed, Moore’s comic protege and groundbreaking leading lady. Rap stars, including T.I. and Snoop Dogg, also pop up to pay homage to Moore, whose rhyming routines earned him the nickname “the Godfather of Rap.”

But “Dolemite Is My Name” is Murphy’s movie, start to finish, and he knows it. He embraces Moore’s foul-mouthed stage persona and his do-it-yourself optimism — in the vein of “Ed Wood” or “The Disaster Artist,” but with an infectious joy that outdoes both of those movies.

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‘Dolemite Is My Name’

★★★1/2

Opened Oct. 4 in select markets; opens Friday, Oct. 25, at the Tower Theatre (Salt Lake City), and on Netflix. Rated R for pervasive language, crude sexual content, and graphic nudity. Running time: 117 minutes.