Review of Trading Places (1983) by Sean L — 26 Jan 2012

Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy embark on a buddy film that's not really a buddy film, crossing paths only fleetingly before swapping lifestyles and trying the theory of nature vs. nurture amidst the hustle and bustle of Wall Street.

Like the Richard Pryor comedy The Toy, there's a puzzling vein of not-so-subtle racism running through the core of this seemingly straight family comedy, particularly when Aykroyd dons black face in the third act, which is only partially settled at the conclusion.

Maybe that's a product of the era in which it was made, though, and it seems somewhat validated, if not approved, by Murphy's close presence in every remotely thorny scene. Otherwise, this is a lightly funny, straight-ahead retread with a few good laughs but no rapid-fire side splitters.

Murphy and Aykroyd are both solid as obnoxious stereotypes of the worst their culture has to offer, while Jamie Lee Curtis's turn as the hooker with a head for business challenges convention in different ways.