Review of Trading Places (1983) by Stuart G — 29 Aug 2008

This is a typical Landis film but in saying that, it is very enjoyable. Eddie Murphy steals the show and his lines and scenes do stick out.

It's pretty good seeing a mixture of faces in the film (Look out for Frank Oz and James Belushi) and also the trademark cameos of Landis (Holding a briefcase in one scene, outside the police station) as well as the films producer Geroge Folsey Jr (Dan Aykroyd even calls him Folsey in the scene too).

The plot is basically two rich people betting against each other whether it's environment or upbringing that makes a person successful. So they make a small time street Hustler a Commodities Broker and vice verse to see possible outcome. The Hustler lives in a life of Luxury, Comfort, Wealth and the former executive basically gets thrown into jail and stripped of his home, wealth and moral standing in society.

This is a great plot and the film was originally written for Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder who made other duo films and because Landis didn't have them available they made it with these guys which I think was the better choice.

Its a typical Landis film and is very enjoyable. There are some scenes that are a bit far fetched but my favourite scene is where Eddie juggles the vase smashes it and makes the dukes money as the vase was insured for more than its worth and the classic delivery lines "You want me to break something else?" which the dukes immediately shook their arms and hold their hands out and said "no" was priceless.

This is a great movie worth watching.