Grade (A)
One of the classics from the Eddie Murphy collection that still holds is amusement despite its age.
Synopsis
Not wanting the traditional arranged marriage of his culture, a young African Prince travels to Queens New York in search for his true love.
My Thoughts
This was an excellent comedy based on a rom-com premise and Eddie Murphy used the role to showcase his wide range of comedic skill. To this day you can pop this film on and laugh out loud at some of the lines he delivers. He fit the role of a Prince well and even more so he portrayed the naive man in America for his first time.
Arsenio Hall was funny as well and like Murphy they both spent some time in the make-up chair as they took on some other roles as well. The barbershop scenes were hilarious as was the church performance of ‘Sexual Chocolate’ from Murphy’s alter ego Randy Watson. There were endless amounts of laughs in this film and with a simple, but relatively creative story-line, added with the performance of Murphy, make this one of the memorable comedies from the 80’s.
There was an amusing collection of side-characters with John Amos playing the money hungry father and Eriq La Salle as the snobby boyfriend and lead pitchman for ‘Soul Glo’. Murphy and Hall did not have to carry the laughs throughout the film and with everyone having some moments to deliver a laugh, the story stays fresh throughout. There was a love-dynamic at the heart of this script and while it was not forgotten, it did not take the focus away from the comedy which was a strong plus for the enjoyment.
“Coming to America” is a feel-good comedy that takes you back to the 80’s with some charismatic performances from all involved. The writing was strong enough to make you laugh without forcing dumb jokes and one-liners. The hilarity was not reliant on only the screenplay either, with an inventive premise to the story-line, many comical moments are created without relying on dialogue alone.
Overall this is still a great comedy that packs relevance today. You can feel the energy and enjoyment from the cast and it translates well onscreen. When mentioning Eddie Murphy’s resume this film will often be mentioned as one of the more memorable and rightfully so, it can still make you laugh no matter how many times you see it.