Trading Places

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, Giancarlo Esposito, Frank Oz, Jim Belushi, Al Franken
Directed by: John Landis
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
1983

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two millionaires (Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche) make a wager and then orchestrate their wealthy business partner (Dan Aykroyd) to change places with a homeless con artist (Eddie Murphy).

Review:

Tim: Trading Places an interesting film- it's a comedy that seems to surpass the typical boundaries of the genre. It's funny, it's entertaining, and it mines deeper themes than your average comedy. This is a movie that explores themes of nature vs. nurture, of class conflict, while skewering the ultra rich and their exploitation and manipulation of working class people. There's a lot to unpack here, which contributes to the feeling that John Landis' film has real substance.

The central theme of the film is simply quite entertaining, though. What if you took an upper-class commodities broker (who isn't actually producing anything), and swapped him with a homeless hustler. How would each man react when their situation so drastically changed? Would the hustler rise to the occasion and make Wall Street proud? Or is there something inherently broken in him- his life situation an outcome of his own failings, verses society's? Similarly, would the broker bounce back after losing everything? Is there something about his demeanor, his education, that would allow him to rise up from the bottom of society to reach its heights once again? Or, was his success a product of society, of being white, having money, less about his own characteristics? This is truly fascinating. Now, the whole manner of these men switching places is farfetched and requires suspending our disbelief- that's where the comedy part comes in, to soften the blow. But, there's inherently fascinating questions about humanity that this film asks and attempts to explore. Most comedies aren't digging this deep, which differentiates this movie immediately. I really enjoyed seeing this film's perspective on the question from its 1983 vantage point (a year in which I celebrated my first birthday). The movie doesn't offer definitive answers, necessarily, but it's asking the questions is still worthwhile.

The cast is a big reason why this movie is so successful. The pairing of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd makes for a comedy dream team. Aykroyd places the yuppie, upper class businessman perfectly. Murphy contrasts this with his trademark energy, speed, and humor. These two men couldn't be more dissimilar, which creates the wonderful contrast in the beginning and middle of the film. As the movie progresses, though, we start to see similarities between them, a reminder that while human beings are incredibly different, we're all united in our humanity. By the end of the film, we see these men aren't quite as different as we imagined- that their circumstances did indeed alter and shape their lives. We're able to believe all this because of the performances of Aykroyd and Murphy. They seem to know they're in a special comedy and raise their performances accordingly.

Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche are terrific as the meddling millionaires. They play their roles to perfection, exactly as we'd expect their characters to behave. They seem to have fun reveling in their roles and they absolutely make the movie better. I really enjoyed seeing Jamie Lee Curtis here, although I think what's most interesting about her involves her larger career context. She'd mostly done genre films to this point, mainly horror movies. As she broke into larger, more mainstream Hollywood, roles like this came along. She definitely gets to play a more substantial role here, but the role also requires several scenes of completely unnecessary nudity. Curtis commented on feeling more exploited in these "Hollywood" films than the smaller genre ones she'd been doing. I'm certain that through the 1983 lens, nothing was amiss here. Watching this movie for the first time 40 years after its release, there's a lot of things that happen here that you'd never seen in a film today (or if you did, would be uncomfortable). I tried to incorporate these different perspectives into my review. Still, Curtis gives a strong performance and it's no surprise she'd go on to have a long and successful Hollywood career. I also loved seeing Jim Belushi, Al Franken, and Giancarlo Esposito in small roles in the film.

Trading Places is an effectively made movie, another example of the directorial skill of John Landis. It was nominated for 1 Academy Award, Best Music, Original Song Score. It's not always laugh-out-loud funny, but it's entertaining from start to finish. You'll chuckle, but you'll also get asked some big questions about humanity, society, and how we think about money and worth. This movie is definitely one of the more memorable comedies of the 1980s and a film that's still worth our time, even four decades later.


Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



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