In the film, Murphy portrayed Rudy Ray Moore and centers close to his career as a standup, and director of blaxploitation commencing with Dolemite (1975). The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to reviewer Peter Canavese, the jacket is a reference to the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog, talked about in the movie, which evokes its use in the Orson Welles movie Mr. Arkadin.