{"id":7017,"date":"2024-10-25T23:14:14","date_gmt":"2024-10-26T03:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=7017"},"modified":"2024-10-25T23:14:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T03:14:14","slug":"trading-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/25\/trading-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Trading Places"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Trading Places <\/strong>(1983)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paramount\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 116 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, racial epithets, brief nudity, sexual references, drugs)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John Landis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Elmer Bernstein\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Robert Paynter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 8, 1983 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy, Denholm Elliott, Paul Gleason, Kristin Holby, Robert Curtis-Brown, Alfred Drake, Ron Taylor, J.T. Turner, Richard Hunt, Jim Belushi, Frank Oz, Al Franken, Tom Davis, Steven Stucker, Kelly Curtis, Bill Cobbs, Bo Diddley, Philip Bosco.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $90.4M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0If your knowledge of Eddie Murphy comedies doesn\u2019t extend past The Nutty Professor or Norbit, you seriously need to expand your repertoire STAT! He didn\u2019t always play multiple characters under heavy makeup in dumb (relatively) kid-friendly movies. There was a time when the star made comedies aimed at older audiences that were actually funny. After making an auspicious debut in the hit action-comedy 48 Hrs. opposite Nick Nolte, the former SNL cast member became a full-fledged movie star when he co-starred with Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers) in Trading Places<\/strong>. It\u2019s one of his best.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Directed by John Landis (Animal House), Trading Places<\/strong> is set in Philadelphia, the closest major city to where I grew up. This means I get to play the Spot the Familiar Location game every time I watch it. It takes place around Christmas. It\u2019s one of the movies I watch every year around the holidays. It never gets old. That\u2019s largely due to the perfect casting of Aykroyd and Murphy in the central roles.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aykroyd plays Louis Winthorpe III, a snobby, Harvard-educated commodities broker who works for the film\u2019s primary antagonists, Randolph (Bellamy, His Girl Friday) and Mortimer Duke (Ameche, Moon Over Miami). The super-wealthy brothers are on opposite sides of the nature vs. nurture debate. To settle their ongoing argument, they make a small wager. What would happen if a well-bred, well-mannered person like Louis was forced to trade places with somebody from the lower end of the social structure? That would be Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy), a street hustler we first meet posing as a blind, legless Vietnam vet. A misunderstanding leads to Louis having him arrested for attempting to steal his briefcase. This is the incident that sets things in motion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Dukes strip Louis of everything including his self-respect. They start by framing him for theft and drug possession which ruins his reputation. His fiancee (Holby) and so-called friends turn their backs on him. In the end, he has nothing and nobody to turn to for help. At the same time, they set Billy up in Louis\u2019 old home and job. A good portion of Trading Places<\/strong> centers on the two men adjusting to their new circumstances. It\u2019s not exactly an original story idea; it goes at least as far back as Mark Twain\u2019s The Prince and the Pauper. HOWEVER, it\u2019s not the least bit tired in the capable hands of Landis and his two leads who create fully developed characters we come to care about.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While Billy becomes a rising star in his new field (it turns out brokering isn\u2019t too different from hustling), Louis tries to get his old life back with the help of Ophelia (Curtis, Halloween I & II), a prostitute with a heart of gold and thousands in T-Bills. She agrees to help him get back on his feet… for a fee, of course. In her first non-horror movie, Curtis shows real versatility and a natural flair for comedy. She takes a stock character and makes it her own by imbuing Ophelia with intelligence and confidence. She\u2019s no dumb bimbo, this one. Additionally, she has great chemistry with Aykroyd and Murphy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Trading Places<\/strong> works as well as it does because it relies more on character than plot. Not that it disregards plot altogether. After the Dukes settle their bet, they shift focus to a big commodities scam designed to make them richer than they already are. The principal characters figure out what they\u2019re up to and concoct a scheme of their own to get even with the Dukes. It\u2019s a familiar and expected plot trajectory that proves effective thanks to stellar work by the two leads. Aykroyd is at the top of his game as Louis, a pompous ass made sympathetic after falling victim to the machinations of the dirty Dukes. Murphy is at his best playing street smart, smart ass characters like Billy Ray. The way he bluffs his way through a stint in lock-up is priceless. It\u2019s every bit classic Eddie as the redneck bar scene in 48 Hrs. Together, the two comic actors strike gold. Their differing comedy styles make for fantastic chemistry.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As Randolph and Mortimer, Bellamy and Ameche are equally great. First, it\u2019s always nice to see old screen vets in action. Second, they create truly hateful characters whose actions border on sociopathy. They play with people\u2019s lives like supervillains from a comic book without a single ounce of remorse. I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t mention Denholm Elliott (Raiders of the Lost Ark) whose droll butler provides a few of the movie\u2019s laughs. He\u2019s the best movie butler this side of John Gielgud\u2019s Oscar-winning Hobson from Arthur.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In addition to its comic merits, Trading Places<\/strong> has plenty to say about racial prejudices and the division between the classes. Landis and his writers aren\u2019t content to stay within the usual bounds of the premise. They explore human nature in general and racism in America in particular. In seeing life from the other side of the socioeconomic spectrum, both Louis and Billy Ray find strengths they never knew they possessed. It\u2019s a surprisingly intelligent comedy reminiscent of the socially-conscious comedies of the 30s- e.g. My Man Godfrey, Sullivan\u2019s Travels.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Trading Places<\/strong> makes great use of its locale. In that respect, it ranks alongside such great Philly-set films as Rocky and Philadelphia. Natives will undoubtedly recognize familiar landmarks like 30th<\/sup> Street Station, the Italian market and the Clothespin at 15th<\/sup> & Market. The City of Brotherly Love has never looked as clean as it does here. It looks as good as it does due to Robert Paynter\u2019s amazing cinematography.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I suppose the most important thing about Trading Places<\/strong> is that it\u2019s funny, VERY funny. It gets silly at times, but never loses its sharp edge. There\u2019s a well-orchestrated scene on a New York-bound train involving a drunken New Year\u2019s Eve party, a horny gorilla and a shady security guy played by perennial nasty a**hole Paul Gleason (Die Hard). It also has a lot of cool cameos by the likes of Jim Belushi, Frank Oz, Steven Stucker, Bo Diddley and the comic duo Tom Davis and Al Franken as lamebrained baggage handlers. The climax at the New York Stock Exchange is hard to understand if you\u2019re not versed in the world of finance and stocks. It doesn\u2019t matter though; you\u2019ll get the gist of it and that\u2019s all that really counts.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Trading Places<\/strong> is one of the best comedies of the 80s. It\u2019s still funny four decades later. True, some of its attitudes are outdated and un-PC, but I wouldn\u2019t call it offensive. They reflect the time in which the movie was made. Also, they\u2019re used to make a point about societal attitudes about race and class. It\u2019s unusually insightful for a comedy. There\u2019s a reason people still watch it today. It is the very definition of a comedy classic.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trading Places (1983)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Paramount\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 116 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, racial epithets, brief nudity, sexual references, drugs)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: John Landis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Elmer Bernstein\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Robert Paynter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 8, 1983 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy, Denholm Elliott, Paul Gleason, Kristin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,12,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies","category-holiday-movies","category-thats-some-funny-stuff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Trading-Places-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7017"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7520,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7017\/revisions\/7520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}