Before he educated us on hamburgers, foot massages and that “you are not in control here”, Samuel L. Jackson came to America as a foul-mouthed, gun-toting armed robber who finds himself at the wrong end of a mop. But before we dwell into that side of Jackson’s career, let me explain two things.

One – this review is part of Simply_Crispy’s Expunged from their C.V. (I’m still trying to figure out what C.V. stands for) write-off, the purpose of which was to find a movie where a star of today was just starting out – or a movie today that stars someone that used to be big (aka, Kirk Cameron in Left Behind.) My choice is on the first – a movie that just so happened have a famous star today just getting his feet wet – he, being, Samuel L. Jackson in a movie where Jackson’s character gets film credit way behind Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, John Amos, James Earl Jones, Eriq La Salle, and even the girl who jumps on one foot while barking like a dog.

Two – Outside of this write-off, Coming to America is, I believe, one of the funniest yet craziest, and not to be taken serious, movies out of Eddie Murphy’s career. Compared to other comedies, Coming to America would tank and tank hard – but still it has something that has kept me drawn, no matter how many times cable channels repeat the movie.

Coming to America can best be summed up as a romantic fairy tale. In other words – what happens and what proceeds to happen, does not and probably never will, happen, ever, in reality. Grace Kelly may have come close – but a good town daughter of a hamburger entrepreneur and a prince who has his own money falling in love – nah!, fairy tale.

Prince Akeem Joffer/Eddie Murphy comes to America to find a bride. His father King Jaffe Joffer/James Earl Jones has picked one for him, but she ends up being a quasi-anorexic female who will give Akeem everything he desires, even if means entertaining him (and us) with her antics like barking like a dog (a poodle I think!). Dragging his assistance Semmi/Arsenio Hall along with him – Akeem embarks on a voyage to find a wife he loves and what better place to find one than in Queens…New York.

That is the first joke (well beside the girl barking like a dog) that true love, a queen fit for a prince, can be found in Queen, New York. Now, don’t mistake my position – yes, in reality, a true queen could be found in Queens, New York – but it is meant to be a joke, ha ha, right?

The laughs thankfully keep coming mainly by the hands of Eddie Murphy and Aresnio Hall who combined respectively play: (Eddie Murphy: -aforementioned- Prince Akeem, -and- Clarence, Randy Watson, and Saul) (Aresnio Hall –aforementioned- Semmi, -and- Extremely Ugly Girl, Morris, and Reverend Brown). In terms not seen again until Murphy took upon his two-tenure on (name other movie).

Plus the movie has typical “Tarzan in a suit” humor since Prince Akeem has never been to America and don’t know about all of our strange ways. Money is also the source of several jokes since Akeem decides to take up a façade of being poor, a student and a goat farmer, in order to find a wife who will love him for him and not for having money. Semmi however, longs for most of the movie to be rescued, since he finds the drabness of being poor insulting and downright unpleasurable. Like Akeem, Seemi is used to living in a palace where women bath him and throw rose petals down on the floor with each step he takes. Speaking of money, there’s even a joke that plays homage to an older film by Eddie Murphy, as Akeem gives two bums a bag loaded with money. The two bums being Randolph and Mortimer Duke who lost their money due to Eddie Murphy’s character in Trading Places. And, Seemi gets in on the action as he writes a telegram to Akeem’s father asking for more money, where the amount slowly increases from $200,000 to half a million while the Western Express girl looks in disbelievement.

But Eddie Murphy and Aresnio Hall aren’t the only one’s who get to share in the comedic limelight. John Amos/Cleo McDowell, a very younger looking Louie Anderson/Maurice, and even dark, deep voiced, James Earl Jones cracks a few one-liners that induce a chuckle. Amos gets to have most of the jokes as he tries to a father who is looking out for his daughter by making sure he ends up with someone with lots of money (but she, like Akeem hates believing that money equates love and happiness) whereas James Earl Jones pops in at the beginning and end of the film and does what one could call stale humor which is funny since it’s James Earl Jones doing it (his humor can be seen again in the movie Sneakers with Robert Redford).

There’s also a whole clan that always hangs out in a barbershop that laugh it up quite frequently (most of the characters if not all in the barbershop are played by Eddie Murphy and Aresnio hall) – and a preacher Reverend Brown (Arsenio Hall) who prays the Lord just a little too much and loudly.

And as I mentioned earlier, Samuel L. Jackson/Hold-Up Man makes a brief appearance who gets his comeuppance by the hands of Prince Akeem in perfect control of a standard issue fast food restaurant mop. Jackson’s few lines are spent yelling for money to be put into a bag and of course for no one to move. But, I guess we all need to start somewhere – and who knew that this man would soon make his way up through the ranks as a computer geek in Jurassic Park all the way up to being the man himself, Shaft.

Coming to America ultimately ends back where it started – with Prince Akeem finding love. But unlike your typical, one could say American fairy tale, the ending doesn’t mean that everyone is happy. In fact, Akeem leaves without finding a bride, giving in to his fathers life and lifestyle, and goes back to Zumunda (the country he will one day rule) to marry the girl who was groomed to be his wife since birth. But then….




Note: This review was written primarily off of watching the cable version of Coming to America, although I have seen the unedited version that is available on VHS.


arjita
artbyjude - "Hackers" "Wild Wild West" "Mazes And Monsters"
BigJack - "The Taking Of Beverly Hills"
brodieman
d_fienberg - "Losin' It"
jankp - "Endless Love"
lemon_lime
Lynus - "Coming To America"
Macresarf1
mfunk75 - "Rudy"
MrsNormanMaine
Simply_Crispy (host) - "Return Of The Killer Tomatoes" "Anaconda" "Tigerland"
skbreese - "Moon Over Parador"
susidee34 - "Son Of Lassie"
tjmackey
Vormancian - "Journey Of Natty Gann"
Weirdo_87
xxxxer

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS