On a side note, a documentary about the two dogs that played Eddie on Frasier would be a fun watch. I hear they had some beef, and we could really dig into it. This, however, is fan service starring Eddie Murphy where he talks about himself. this follows in the grand tradition of a hundred other documentaries and docuseries we’ve had this year where a camera was plunked down in front of someone famous, or a filmmaker honed in on a famous person. Off the top of my head, Charlie Sheen, Paul Reuben’s, Billy Joel, Diane warren, Janis Ian, Susan Powter, Martin Scorsese, and Marlee Matlin have all been explored, not to mention retrospective documentaries My Mom Jayne, John Candy I like me, and Stiller and meara.

the over saturation of this specific style of documentary is what keeps the most unique and deserving from rising to the top, because they feel like just another one. One more clickbait doc for the road. it sounds like I’m mad at this, but I’m not. For Eddie Murphy fans, this is a perfectly fine surface level film with the biggest revelation being that he does believe some of his films were terrible. Eddie talks about his childhood in enough detail to make it worth it, as well as his earlier years. he probably could have talked about a few more of his major hits, which get glossed over, but he also has nothing to say about flops like I Spy, Pluto Nash, Imagine That, A thousand Words, or oddly his well received work in Mr church. He does dive into Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, the Nutty professor, and Dreamgirls. Also, there’s plenty of talk about Saturday Night Live, his stand up films, and his singing career, not to mention his directorial debut Harlem Nights.

Commenting also on his journey are Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Tracy Morgan, and even some commentary from Eddie’s late brother Charlie. For a film with a normal runtime, and no desire to really push at difficult topics, Being Eddie manages to be a film for everyone, but mostly fans of Murphy looking for him to speak on his life.

There is audio description, but this is also a talking head style documentary, so there aren’t too many times it jumps in. the best parts are toward the end, when Murphy starts playing around with his ventriloquist dummies.

Eddie Murphy ruminates, and audiences likely will find it satisfying enough to learn what is is to be Eddie, at least from the donkey’s mouth.

Fresh: 7.0/10