Here’s a full review of Being Eddie — a documentary that chronicles the life, career, and legend of Eddie Murphy with both admiration and notable omissions.
🎬 Basic Info
- Title: Being Eddie (2025) IMDb+1
- Director: Angus Wall Los Angeles Times+2The Guardian+2
- Format & Runtime: Documentary / Biography, approximately 1h 42m. IMDb+1
- Platform: Released on Netflix, streaming from 12 November 2025. Netflix+1
- Synopsis: The film tracks Murphy’s journey from teenage stand-up prodigy, through breakout at Saturday Night Live, to decades of Hollywood stardom — with archival footage, interviews with major comedy figures, and personal reflections. ABC+1
✅ What Works — Strengths
1. A rich archive and star access
Being Eddie benefits enormously from fireworks of archival footage and the cooperation of Murphy himself and many of his peers. The documentary includes interviews with legends such as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, and others reflecting on Murphy’s influence. ABC+1
These interviews give the film a strong credibility and allow it to situate Murphy’s work within the broader comedy and entertainment landscape.
2. Glimpses of vulnerability
While Murphy is known for his charisma and comedic fire-power, the documentary unfolds moments of introspection and personal loss (for example his reflections on his late brother Charlie Murphy). EW.com
These softer edges add emotional depth. The ABC review highlights:
“The doco promises to strip back a little of that mystery — and to some extent it does.” ABC
This gives audiences something more than just a celebratory highlight reel — there are real stakes and personal storylines.
3. Celebratory legacy focus
As many reviewers note, the documentary effectively emphasizes the scale of Murphy’s achievement: from stand-up to movie star, from SNL to global box-office success. It reminds you how singular his path has been. People.com+1
For fans of Murphy, this is likely a satisfying portrait — bold, big-vision, with many of the high points laid out clearly.
⚠️ What Doesn’t Fully Work — Weaknesses / Limitations
1. A largely unchallenged portrait
One of the main critiques is that the film is reverential to a fault. The Guardian review describes it as:
“reverential yet limited.” The Guardian
Many controversial or complex episodes in Murphy’s life (public rifts, controversies) are either lightly touched or omitted, which means the documentary sometimes plays it safe instead of probing deeply.
2. Selective story-telling
With a career spanning decades and vast cultural impact, any documentary will necessarily omit, compress or simplify. In this case, key controversies (e.g., Murphy’s 1997 arrest, short-lived marriage, paternity issues) are glossed over. The Guardian
For viewers hoping for a fully balanced biography, these absences may feel like gaps.
3. Structural/pacing issues
While the film offers many engaging segments, some reviewers comment that the narrative arc sometimes drifts — from nostalgia and success into broader cultural impacts, without always threading the connective tissue strongly. Some scenes feel more like celebration than investigation.
Additionally, because the documentary covers so much ground, depth in certain phases of Murphy’s life can feel uneven.
🧠 Themes & Key Insights
- Legacy & reinvention: The film emphasizes Murphy’s ability to reinvent himself — from comedian to leading man to voice actor to producer — and how he helped change the notion of Black stardom in Hollywood. Los Angeles Times
- Comedy as survival: Murphy’s narratives about his childhood, early fights and the role of comedy in his life surface repeatedly — the documentary honours how laughter was both a gift and a shield.
- Visibility & representation: Through interviews, the documentary underscores how Murphy’s success opened doors for future generations of Black performers and comedians.
- The art of performance vs the person: One interesting through-line is how Murphy rarely “plays himself” on screen, despite being such a performer; the documentary seems to ask: who is Eddie Murphy? “Being Eddie” becomes less about the roles and more about the man behind them.
- Memory & myth: The documentary consciously leans into myth-making — the big moments, the celebrity status, the legends. But in doing so it gently raises questions about how much of celebrity is image, how much is truth.
🎯 Final Verdict
Being Eddie is a compelling, entertaining and often insightful documentary — especially for fans of Eddie Murphy and those interested in the trajectory of American comedy and stardom. It offers many highs: strong archival footage, charismatic interviews, and a celebratory tone that honours its subject.
Rating: 7.5/10
- ✅ Why it earns this: Outstanding access, rich historical context, emotional moments, and the chance to see a major entertainer reflect on his own journey.
- ⚠️ Why not higher: It doesn’t dig as deeply into the darker, more complex corners of its subject as some viewers may wish; the narrative is somewhat conventional in its pace and structure.
Recommended for:
- Fans of Eddie Murphy who want an affectionate, widescreen portrait of his career.
- Viewers interested in documentaries about comedy, fame, and entertainment history.
- Those who appreciate celebratory non-fiction films that lean more toward homage than deep critique.
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