America, the Not-So-Beautiful

I recently checked out one of Eddie Murphy's more well-regarded movies, Coming to America. This was something of a turning point for his movies. It was (I think) the first time he played multiple roles in the film with the help of heavy prosthetic makeup. To hear director John Landis tell it, it was also the first time he showed up on set with his full entourage, behaving in full-on asshole "I'm a giant celebrity" mode, too.

The thing is, the movie really isn't "all that." The plot is probably known to you. A wealthy African prince resists his father's arranged marriage and heads off to New York in the hopes of finding an independent-minded woman who will love him for himself, not for his riches or title. It's a really simple idea, so any traction the film has must come from the performers, bringing the funny.

For a while, they sort of do. The opening half hour or so of the movie does generate some laughs, mostly in the outrageous treatment of the prince in his daily life in his native country. In truth, it's the situations -- the writing -- that are funnier than Eddie Murphy himself. Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones bring some laughs too.

But then the prince actually comes to America (hey, it's in the title!), and the movie immediately starts to power down. There are a few spikes of humor, in Murphy's portrayal of a crazy old Jewish man who hangs out in a barbershop to kvetch, and Hall's portrayal of an over-the-top evangelist. But mostly, the movie gets shorter on jokes and longer on story, struggling to make two lovebirds meet, and struggling more to put any truly credible obstacles in their way.

It's funny (strange, not ha-ha) that the movie works so hard on the story and yet leaves some obvious flaws in this area. For example, when his father the king catches back up with the prince and insists on going through with the arranged marriage, it ends up being the wise and strong-willed queen that convinces the king to let the young prince marry whoever he wants, defying the ages-old tradition of arranged marriage. The queen. The one who herself must have been part of the arranged marriage tradition, and should therefore be a glorified handmaiden who does whatever the king wants -- not an independent woman who speaks her mind, exactly like the sort of woman the prince is going to all this trouble to meet!

I'd forgive the story pitfalls if the movie were actually funny. But it just gets more tired as it rolls on for a brief -- but somehow long -- 90 minutes. By the time it was over, I was wishing I'd turned it off about halfway through. I rate Coming to America a C-.