|
Year
: 1983
Director:
John Landis
Starring:
Eddy Murphy, Dan Ackroyd,
Jamie Lee Curtis, Denholm Elliot, Don Ameche. |
Trading Places
A
christmassy film based around cynical exploitation
and snobbery - cool. Perfect for Christmas then.
The
films begins at Christmas two wealthy banking brothers
Randolph and Mortimer Duke are engaging in a lively
discussion on the debate between nature and
nurture. They decide to make a bet on whether given
the right circumstances someone from a under privileged
broken background could prove himself to be a successful
businessman, and vice versa that a successful
businessman with the best upbringing and the best
paid education would resort to petty crime if the
circumstances of his life are suddenly reversed.
They select two unwitting victims for their scheme
- one of their most successfully commodity brokers
Louis Winthorpe III
is sharply fired from his job, removed from his grace and favour residence
and framed for crimes he had no involvement in,
whilst
Billy Ray Valentine
a hustler and a part time beggar, is given Louis's Job with the firm and also
his house and man servant etc. Louis's friends
soon drop him, whilst Billy Ray
gain lots of new social climbing friends and enjoys
the benefits of his brand new lifestyle. How will
the social experiment turn out and what happens
if the guinea pigs find out what has happened to
them?
Trading
Places could have been
one of those archetypal american studio comedies
of the 1980's albeit, the plot is pretty impressive
(despite being based on an old Three Stooges movie)
and in John Landis's hands it turns into a very
decent comedy film. What does help is the impressive
cast led by Eddie Murphy (when he was funny), Dan
Ackroyd (ditto), a cute but overacting like anything
Jamie Lee Curtis plus the superb Don Ameche, Ralph
Bellamy and Denholm Elliot (as a steroetypical
English gentleman's gentleman - a Jeeves). Ok some
of the film is rather crass, but mostly its both
very entertaining and pretty funny in places, but
mainly it is a film that can be enjoyed
without demanding too much serious thought from
the viewer.
Trading
Places the
film is book ended by Christmas's but is
placed at December 12th on our Christmas
movies guide (USA edition).
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this film and more from our Christmas
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