Coming to America (1988)

Silly romantic comedy. 

Eddie Murphy plays an African prince who – in order to escape an arranged marriage – travels from the fictional country of Zamunda to New York City to meet his bride. He wants to find someone who likes him for who he really is and not just for his money. 

Murphy is hugely appealing, as usual, but he’s operating on a higher level than everything happening around him. The “plot” is fairly lame and there aren’t enough laughs. It’s enjoyable if you can accept the usual 1980s aspirational fixation of upward mobility. 

What doesn’t work is that Murphy and co-star Arsenio Hall play a range of other minor parts for no apparent reason. It’s directed by John Landis, who certainly likes an in-joke (all of his films feature the phrase “See You Next Tuesday” in some form). He even revives the characters of Mortimer and Randolph (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) from Trading Places, which also starred Eddie Murphy. 

It’s entertaining fluff that’s fun to watch, but it’s probably not a film you need to see twice. Surprisingly, perhaps, a sequel was released in 2021.

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