Transcript

Intro Clip

You must be out of your goddamn mind. Joe Lewis, the greatest boxer ever lived. I'll be with you boys in a minute. He was bad in catcher, Clay. He batting Sugar Ray. He bad in that. Who that? The new boy got Mike Tyson look like a bulldog. He bad in him too. He done whipped Mike Tyson's ass. He whipped all they asses. What about Rocky Marciano? Oh, there they go. There they go. Every time I start talking about boxing, a white man got to pull Rocky Marciano out they ass. That's they won't. That's day one. Rockin Montana. Rockin Montana. Let me tell you something wonderful. All Rockin Montana was good. But compared to Joe Lewis, rockin Montana ain't shit. He bit Joe Lewis ass. That's right. He did whoop Joe Lewis ass. Joe Lewis was 75 years old when he fought. I don't know how old he was. But he got it at whoop. Joe Lewis had come out of retirement to fight Rocky Marciano. The man was 76 years old. Joe Lewis always lied about his age. He lied about his age all the time. One time, Frank Sinatra comes out here and sat down in this chair. I said, frank, you hang out with Joe Lewis. Just between me and you, how old is Joe Lewis? You know what Frank told me? He said, hey, Joe Lewis. 137 years old. 137 years old. Oh, man, you ain't never meet no Franks in Hyra. You, you, and you. Who's next?

Steve

It's 2 Dads 1 Movie. It's the podcast where two middle aged dads sit around and shoot the about the movies of the 80s and 90s. Here are your hosts, Steve, Paulo and Nic Briana. Hello, everybody. It's another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie. I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

And today we're talking about one of Nic's picks. We are talking about the Eddie Murphy masterpiece coming to America from 1988.

Nic

Oh, yeah.

Steve

Nic, why don't you tell us a little bit about your history with coming to America and why you picked it for us today.

Nic

Yeah. So this is just eminently rewatchable quotable movie. There's so much of this movie that I feel like still exists in the culture today, especially among our cohort, which is who we're targeting here. Yeah, I love this movie. I always loved Eddie Murphy. Like we mostly all did, right? Especially during this era 80s. Eddie really couldn't go wrong. It's very fun. And on watching it again, I kind of realized how big of a movie is. Some of these sets that they had were very elaborate. And it shows. We'll talk about the budget and stuff, but I mean, it shows. They really put a lot of effort into making making this movie as great as it was. It wasn't really like an out of nowhere hit. It was like, we're gonna make a hit. And here it is. And yeah, I love it. It's just. It's so fun. So many great characters. It's. It's beautiful to look at.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So, yeah, I thought it would be a really fun one to go through.

Steve

Yeah, it's one of those movies with more great characters than great actors because we get so many characters from both Murphy and Hall in this, which is just wonderful. So, yeah, for me, you know, yeah, this is when I watched a bunch growing up. I'm confident. I mean, I don't, you know, can't pinpoint the exact moment I first would have seen it, but I'm almost positive this would have been I. My first exposure to Coming to America. Certainly would have been an edited for TV version on like TBS or something in like the early 90s. Yeah, this is, you know, definitely not one. I definitely did not see this in the theater at 8 years old. There's no way wouldn't have seen a real sort of official cut of it until later in my teen years. But I feel like this was on like Comedy Central. TNT.

Nic

Yes.

Steve

You know, whatever it was, you know, Channel 4 movie of the week, you know, in 1993, a lot. And it was that sort of edited version.

Nic

So, yeah, I think same for me. Definitely seeing that, that 505pm start on TBS.

Steve

Exactly 505, man. Yeah, for sure. All right, well, hey, yeah. Let's run into the facts on Coming to America. All right. It was released on June 29, 1988 with an R rating, running time of 117 minutes. Directed by John Landis. And this is the third of, I think maybe just three. But certainly it was the third time Landis and Murphy got together after collaborating on 48 Hours and Trading Places. It was written by Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield off of a story that Murphy himself wrote.

Nic

Okay.

Steve

And then, so yeah, and then starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio hall again, both in numerous characters. And then I, you know, James Earl Jones, probably the next biggest name in this movie, John Amos, also a big star in his own right. So scores on Rotten Tomatoes has received 73% fresh, which is very solid certified fresh score. And a very similar 7.1 from the people on IMDb. As far as awards go, this film won two awards. I did not know this until I looked it up. For this episode, Arsenio hall won a pair of Best Supporting Actor awards. He won one at the NAACP Image Awards and one at the American Comedy Award. So a big deal for Arsenal Hall. And he's fantastic in the movie. It's not like that's surprising, but yeah.

Nic

It is funny, though. I mean, he wasn't as much of a movie star for that long of a time after this, but yeah, he's. He does everything you could ask him, ask him to do in this movie.

Steve

Absolutely is fantastic. Budget of $30 million. Pretty big for a comedy in the late 80s.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Although obviously, I'm sure Murphy himself constituted a fairly large part of that budget. And there were a lot of, you know, there was a lot of like, animals. And in this movie there was a lot of, like, there were special effects in the way that they clearly used some of the same, like, matte technology where they would paint the backgrounds that they did for, like, Star Wars. Several of the Zamunda scenes are clearly. It's not like they filmed in a. In a jungle or forest. They had to sort of create that with special effects.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So there was a kind of a lot of that going on. But the box office take. Oh, well, let's just say the 30 million they spent was well worth it. It came in just a hair under $290 million worldwide for almost 10 times know the money that it cost to make. So this is by far, so far for us, the biggest box office hit that we've covered in any of our episodes. Both from the stance of just the sheer amount of money that it earned, but also the. The kind of multiplier on it when you think about, you know, it's easier to make $300 million if you're making $100 million movie.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

You know, but earning $300 million on a $30 million movie, that is pretty damn impressive. So absolutely, very good stuff for. For everybody. This was obviously, you know, this is Eddie Murphy and it's Eddie Murphy at his height. This is, you know, after Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 2, but before Beverly Hills Cop 3, which actually I think Landis did direct Beverly Hills Cop 3. So this is the third of at least four times that Landis and Murphy got together. But yeah, so this is like Murphy at his peak. This is Arsenio hall pre. The Arsenio hall show, obviously. But like, you know, is, you know, he was a well respected comedian at the time. And you know. Yeah. There's just a lot of great people in this movie. Yeah. And I can't wait to get into all the details. Do you want to kind of kick us off?

Nic

Yeah, yeah. One thing that. That took me from the very beginning of this movie, the opening, I thought was kind of an original take on the opening of the film where it shows the Paramount logo card. Right.

Steve

The.

Nic

The mountain, but then it shows that as kind of a real thing. And then they're flying over it, this beautiful. You know, I'm not. I think it was all just a helicopter shot of whatever it was with maybe something added into it, but a shot as we're going into the country of Zamunda, towards the palace, and it's just this beautiful nature and everything. It looked great and it gave a very kind of regal feel to it. One thing I want to say now, because I might forget later, is I feel like the depiction of Africa in this is great because it's more showing like a. Like a mansa munsa type, like, prosperous vision of an African country. Whereas during that time, I don't know about you, but I mean, in the culture, Africa was just like, you know, like, kind of very primitive. Right. You know, like spears and like face pain and all this stuff. And that's what you would kind of learn as a kid about Africa. And I think, you know, it was probably Eddie Murphy important to him.

Steve

Right.

Nic

To show it this way. So it's kind of cool that they don't even really dip into any of that stereotypical negative Africa stuff that we hear a lot. Yeah, absolutely. It's very respectful.

Steve

Absolutely. And I think that, you know, they even really comment on that in the movie.

Nic

There.

Steve

There's one character in particular, but several characters throughout the movie who make pretty disparaging, insulting remarks about Africa and living in Africa. It is several characters. Although Daryl, the piece of shit, does do it a lot. We'll get to that later.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So, yeah, so we zoom in on the palace, the royal palace, and it.

Nic

Is this great music, kind of like chanting music and this really opulent palace.

Steve

And.

Nic

And. And then it shows. I think it shows us an orchestra standing there and starting up.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

You know, like getting ready. Five violins and three French horns and a cello. And then we see that that's actually how Eddie Murphy, Prince Hakeem, is woken up in the morning.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Instead of an alarm clock, he has a full, you know, nine piece orchestra right there to wake him up with these very pleasant songs. So the way we're introduced to his Character is just kind of seeing his life as an extremely rich, powerful person in his country. John Landis. A few times throughout this movie he does it. He really skewers ultra wealth and ultra opulence so well. And it comes through in this. It comes through in Trading Places. It comes through in the Blues Brothers and the French restaurant scene, stuff like that. I think he has a thing that he really just wants to dig at these people and how ridiculous the excesses of it are.

Steve

Yeah. He really hates blue bloods. Right. Like, people who sort of have stumbled into their wealth and opulence, virtue of their birth. And. And I think, you know, this is giving us a real interesting first look at Prince Hakeem. You know, this is the. The ridiculousness begins immediately as. As he is shown the toilet for the morning and asks for once, can I use the bathroom by myself? And his assistant or his. His sort of whatever. Valet, I guess he is. Yeah. Kind of chuckles and yells, wipers.

Nic

Most amusing, sir. Wipers. Yeah. So we find out it's likeem's 21st birthday.

Steve

Right? That's right.

Nic

And. And he's a little bit like, ok, man, do I start doing any of this on my own? And to them, that's the most preposterous thing they've ever heard.

Steve

Ludicrous.

Nic

Why would you do this? Everyone dreams of being you, right? Why would you not love every aspect of this?

Steve

Yeah, it's definitely kind of the idea that money can't buy you happiness, I always think is a little bit naive and childish because, oh, my God, I could buy a hell of a lot of things that really come close to happiness with a ton of money, but if you don't have the freedom to go along with it, I think that's where it comes in. Right. So we see him as the whatever, like. Right. The canary in the gilded cage kind of deal. Right. Like, he's. He's trapped in this land of opulence, in this. In this existence of wealth. And he's.

Nic

He's being bathed. So. So he's woken up and he's walking on flower petals everywhere.

Steve

Right. Right.

Nic

He's in the bathtub with, I think, a couple of women on either side of him kind of scrubbing him.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

One of them pops up from underwater. The royal penis is clean, sir, which is just I. Early in the movie. I mean, that must have had people rolling. That is such a good way to start it off.

Steve

It's not even. That is. But it's even more so is his contented sigh right after that, like, it just exhales through his mouth, like, okay, man. They are telling us everything without actually telling us, aren't they?

Nic

They're brushing his teeth for him, and then he's supposed to. He's gargling, and they're, like, massaging his throat to help him gargle. It's just. It's so over the top and so funny.

Steve

So we see his morning routine. He gets ready, and then he has. He has breakfast with his parents, you know, at the longest of the King and the Queen, obviously. And I just want to point out something. So James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair play the king and queen of Zamunda. And I know I recognized that James Earl Jones would also later play an African king as the voice of Mufasa in the LION KING In 1994 from Disney. What I didn't realize at the time until I looked it up today is that Madge Sinclair plays the voices, the queen character, lion, in that movie, Queen Sarabi. So these two come together later about, you know, six years later, they would reprise the type of role and play an African king and queen again.

Nic

Very nice, but.

Steve

So Akeem has to tell his parents, you know, it's my birthday. You know, this all seems kind of crazy. I've never tied my shoes. I've never done this. Whatever. I tied my shoes once. I would not recommend it or whatever. It's just kind of like, oh, it's a terrible experience. Like, it's just, you know, showing just how absolutely kind of. Yeah. Insulated and oppressed in. In a dumb way, by their own success and their own wealth they are. And he wants kind of not out. Like, he doesn't want to. You know what?

Nic

He doesn't want to abdicate his throne.

Steve

Exactly. He's not looking to do that. But he does want to wander. Right.

Nic

Right.

Steve

So we get. We get a shot of the. The palace from the outside, which I noticed the main part of the palace building looks like a huge pineapple. I'm assuming that was deliberate because it really looks like the pineapple under the sea that spongebob lives in. But, yeah. So we get this party. There's outside as we're going into it, all these, like, folks are showing up, you know, the sort of the regal nobility of Zamundis coming to celebrate Prince Akim's birthday with him and. And to discover we're gonna meet his bride. Right. That's the idea that he's being given away or he's being. Or I can't think his marriage has.

Nic

Been Arranged and because his 21st birthday, this is the time to. This is the time for the wedding. So there's no, nothing he knows about it in advance other than, yeah, you're gonna set me up with someone. And he gets to meet her that day.

Steve

That's. Yeah, that's, that's what he get. He finds out he gets to meet her that day. I do love, as we're going up to, to getting into the party or whatever the, the announcement, there is a Barke T shirts. Yes. Which is very much just very funny little, little moment. But yeah. So we go in and there is like a colonel or some, you know, person who's very high up in Zamunda society who's there to present his daughter as the bride to be. As the, you know, princess and queen to be.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And then so then the assistant or the valet sings the most crazy song ever. She's, she's your queen. I'm not going to try to do it because I would break everybody's eardrums if I hit those notes, which I can't. But she's your queen to be. And it's the most graphic lyrics of any song.

Nic

Well, and so right before that it was, it seemed, everything seems so fancy and official and everything. There was this great dance number where they had all these costume dances come out, do some kind of dance with this like drum beat and it went on for a couple minutes. It was almost like the, like the starship going by in Spaceballs where it just keeps going. And it wasn't supposed to be funny, but it was just like, oh, this is good, this looks cool. And I think all of that to set up the she's your queen to be thing where it's like, oh, look how fancy, look how regal we are. And look how traditional everything is. And then this guy does like an off key RB intro song for his queen.

Steve

That massive dance element, by the way, choreographed by none other than Paula Abdul.

Nic

Yeah, I saw that there.

Steve

Yeah, very cool.

Nic

All the stars came out for this.

Steve

Exactly. Right. So, yeah.

Nic

And when he finishes singing the song. So I forget this guy's name, but.

Steve

His Oha, I think is what they call him.

Nic

Okay. Yeah. So he's the, you know, the assistant, the valet. Use Downton Abbey terminology. When he finishes singing the song, he has one of the better just straight faces ever. So he holds this face and he looks a lot like James Earl Jones.

Steve

A little bit. Yeah.

Nic

Like and son. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I almost called him Edward. James. James when you were talking about spongebob. I was like Squidward James almost. I gotta say that later. I'm like, that's not even the same guy. So his face just returns directly back to expressionless and he sets back and there's no applause or anything. I love that scene. And that's. That's a thing that gets quoted a lot. I feel like people are very familiar with that scene. People joke about it at weddings you go to and everything.

Steve

The fact that even has to mention in the lyrics to the song that she's free from infection, it's just like, my God, how did we get here? What is going on?

Nic

So Akeem meets. He finally meets this. This bride to be very beautiful, very, you know, kind of been trained since birth, you know, like a. Like an East German Olympian to just be the perfect companion for him. And not even necessarily the perfect companion, but just the most pliable. Like, she's going to agree with everything he does. And he's going through this sequence of asking her, well, I want to learn about you.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

What kind of music do you like? Whatever kind of music you like. And then he's doing ridiculous things and saying, stand on one foot and make noises like a monkey. Which. Which I think is very similar to a scene in Future 2 Dads One movie film, Terminator 2, where John Connor is telling the Terminator all those things to do.

Steve

Yes, exactly.

Nic

Very funny. And she's just, you know, she does it making these noises and then he asks her to leave the room and she just hops out, still making the sounds. Very funny.

Steve

I love. He asks her to bark like a dog. She starts at that point. He. I don't think he breaks the fourth wall very often in this movie, but he turns the camera, just stares at us for a moment, and then asks her a bigger dog. So. So Akeem convinces his parent, his father, right? They go on a walk and he's talking about, you know, the. The. I don't, you know, I want a woman that, you know, who will love me for me. And I don't know this person. How could I love her? Whatever. I, you know, I want to take some time before the wedding to, like, go travel. And if his father, of course, misinterprets this as oh, you want to sow your royal oats kind of thing, and one thing I noticed in this. In this moment, in this, I'm sure, was a deliberate callback is that as they're walking around, they've gone outside, right? Akeem and his father. And so he is. The king has one of these, like, sort of almost like fly swatting feather deals that he's sort of like, you know, knocking flies away right as they're walking around. I get it. But it's obviously very similar to what Eddie Murphy uses in Trading Places in his African student on the train scene. And given the. The involvement of both Landis and Murphy in both movies, I feel like that can't be accidental.

Nic

Oh, yeah, right. Still. Hey, call up the props department.

Steve

Yeah, we still have. Oh, man. I should look back. We should see if it's the exact same.

Nic

Yeah, exactly. James Earl Jones has a very funny line where he's. He's kind of talking about how he's grown up so fast. He says, it seems only yesterday I ordered your first diaper changed. Yeah, very good.

Steve

Again with the just out of touchness of all of it.

Nic

Yeah. So. So they're going to let him go and you know, for the reason of he's. He's going to go sow his royal oats. But what he has confided to his friend Simi Arsenio hall is that I'm going to find my.

Steve

Right.

Nic

I'm going to find my bride here.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And. And he's allowed basically 40 days. He's going to take a trip to America. And they're trying to decide where to go.

Steve

Yeah. So they figure just on kind of, you know, target rich environments, I guess. Right. Let's choose LA or New York, which I think is a fairly reasonable thing if you're from outside the country. You go one of those two places, two biggest cities in America. Great. They flip a coin and it lands on heads, which is New York. Right. Of course, we see it's Akeem himself who is the head on the coin. That's always a good touch. But then it's like, okay, but New York is so large. Where do we go? And you've got like a Rand McNally, you know, roadmap open. And of course they notice Queens. Yeah. Well, that clearly that's where you go to find a queen in the United States.

Nic

Great joke in 1988 when Queens was legit a dump. I mean, right now it's 2.4 million for a studio apartment probably. So that joke really hit then when there used to be like cheap parts of New York.

Steve

I feel like if you did this today and you still had to do New York City, it would have to be Staten Island. That would have to be the joke. It's not poor enough to go to Queensland.

Nic

Right.

Steve

But then you'd lose the whole queen thing. Anyway, yeah, I did love, too, that they show us. They show Simi and. And AIM flying to the United States on the Concord, which I love the Concord. Super cool. Late 80s touch to have the Concord there. And. Yeah. So they. They.

Nic

They land and just like 12 people pulling parts of their suitcases, going through trunks.

Steve

JFK. Yeah. With this enormous amount of luggage and trunks and whatever. Yeah, really funny. And there's a great interaction between AIM and the cab driver because he doesn't know how to. How to hail a cab. Yeah, that's not something he's ever had to do before. So he steps out into traffic and, you know, holds up his hand and gets cursed out. Yeah.

Nic

And he says, he. The guy asks, you know, what's up with you guys? He's like, we are ordinary African students, Right?

Steve

Okay.

Nic

He said, where do you want to go? And he says, take us to the most common part.

Steve

Right.

Nic

And he pulls up to this corner, he says, this shitty enough for you? The cab driver, by the way, 90s 80s micro celebrity body by Jake. Remember that guy? That was that guy.

Steve

There you go. Very nice. Yeah, I love it. They. So they land. Land. They are brought to this street in Queens. There's a, you know, apartment building, whatever, but at the ground floor of the apartment building is a barbershop called Mighty. Mighty Sharp, I think is what it's called.

Nic

Mighty M Ye Sharp.

Steve

So we. We head inside there and this is the first time where we get, you know, kind of the multiple characters from these two actors. We're actually in this scene before Akim and Semi even. Even walk in. Eddie Murphy's already playing two characters. Yep, because he's playing kind of what seemed to be like the head. Let's call him the head bartender or the head barber. And then the Jewish old man. The Jewish customer. Right. You know, there's both there. And then Arsenio hall is playing one of the other. One of the two other barbers, and they are having this argument about boxing.

Nic

I'm counting this as boxing on tv, by the way, when we're doing our bingo card. This counts as boxing on tv.

Steve

Fair enough. I think the. The intro clip will be cool from when they talk about Rocky Marciano later. But. Yeah, but one of my favorite things is the way Eddie Murphy, as this, like, elderly Jewish man, pronounces Muhammad Ali.

Nic

Oh, my God.

Steve

Muhammad.

Nic

Muhammad Ali. Oh, it's so good. You know, he was killing himself with that. I don't know if you noticed this. The customer getting his hair cut at the barbershop was none Other than future Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. Oh, my God.

Steve

I did not realize. That's amazing.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Wonderful.

Nic

That's so good.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So. So they're trying to find somewhere to live. Right. So they end up going into an apartment, knocking on the door of an apartment building there. And the door is answered by a very gruff landlord type character. And I think when they first walk in, they see. You see behind them, their luggage is all being stolen. And they walk into the building, and it's basically a drunk guy just falling down the stairs in a very comedic way. That's their introduction to this building.

Steve

Absolutely. And so they go up to the apartment that they're, you know, supposedly going to rent, and there's a. There's police tape that the landlord has or the super, whoever he is, has to knock down, and they show me there's a Reese rented to a blind man. So they got one window faces a brick wall, and they. They killed him. Damn shame when they did that dog, too. So then we get a tape outline on the floor of, like, a man. Yep. And a dog.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And the cane.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And it's like. It's not even an outline. It's just the tape in the shape of a cane. But, you know, how else would you know he was blind? Yeah.

Nic

It's such a good touch. Yeah. So they really find the worst of the worst. Their mission is accomplished as far as finding the most. We seek meager dwellings, which I love that term there. And they walk out of the apartment after they look at it, and they see everyone walking down the streets in their clothes.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Wearing their dashiki robes, including the guy surrounding a barrel fire, which I always like. I like a barrel fire. A guy comes, and I think Arsenio says, I'm beginning to suspect these are the people that stole our luggage. One guy walks up to him with a trench coat full of stuff for sale, and it's all golden toothbrushes and.

Steve

Stuff from their lasers and mirrors.

Nic

Really good.

Steve

Very cool.

Nic

So they want it.

Steve

They.

Nic

They don't fit in, though. I don't think they're really too concerned about their luggage being gone. They're more concerned about, oh, we don't feel like real New Yorkers, so let's go dress like real New Yorkers.

Steve

So they get what, like a Mets jacket and like, an I love New York shirt? SC they look ridiculous.

Nic

600 pins. Like, it would get you fired from TGI Fridays. ODing on flair.

Steve

That's not going to work. Working at Chachki's.

Nic

Yeah. And Then Akeem, you know, his hair, he has this long braid, which is probably part of his tradition as a royal in his country.

Steve

He refers to it as his princely locks.

Nic

His princely locks, right. And he says he's been growing it since birth. And he goes in there to the barbershop and he asks for the haircut, and the guy basically looks at him and just snips the braid directly off. And he's like, that'd be $8.

Steve

Right. I love it. Before he goes in there, that's when they're having the conversation about Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. Guys going on and on about, like, you know, Joe Lewis better. Rocky Marciano. Rocky Marciano. Rocky Marciano whooped Joe Louis ass. Like, you know, the whole thing. And he's like, Joe Lewis was 78 years old. He came out of retirement. Joe Lewis, 137 years old. Like, it was very, very undoing.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

I love that whole sequence going on about Joe Louis.

Nic

Accurate depiction of how sports arguments work. When somebody's, like, backed into a corner.

Steve

You know, ex, like. Well, there's always an asterisk. You know, it's like, yeah, there was extenuating circumstances. So now we're going to get to one of my. Actually, I think one of the best scenes, especially early in the movie, is sort of the speed dating montage, right? So Aim and Semi are going to nightclubs. They go to go. Go look for women, Right. The whole point is to meet a woman. So they go. And they just don't have very good luck at all with the. The women that they meet somebody. There's a woman who tells them that she worships Satan. Right. And then another one burning her hand.

Nic

Yeah. She said she's like Joan of Arc reincarnated. We got the ones rapping.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

Yeah. And then one of them, we have Arsenio in character as a woman who's very into Arsenio. Yeah, very into Arsenio. That's really funny. When they first walk into the club, this is another Eddie Murphy thing that just his face, where he's definitely in character as Akeem. He's not saying anything, but he just has this kind of forced smile look that's just so funny. So unique to Eddie Murphy, his ability to do that face. So that killed me. But, yeah, what a great scene, talking to all the women. And it gets them set up with. I don't think this is where we meet women. It's not where we're supposed to go. And they end up back at the barber shop. The barber tells Them. Well, go to this Black awareness rally tonight. You're not going to meet a woman out at a bar. You got to go somewhere nice.

Steve

Yeah. He says you got to go to, like, church or library, whatever. Ahoy. I'm going to Black Awareness rally tonight. There'll be some fine women, some good women there. So they go. And it is the. Well, it's. It's a whole Black Awareness Week celebration. But I do think we arrive in the middle or near the end of the Miss Black Awareness Pageant, which was interesting. So we get another Arsenio hall character playing the pastor, and he is talking all about how this is proof of a God. There's clearly a God. And, you know, and it's just these. He's very. Women in bikinis. Very attractive young women in bikinis. But that's all he needs to know that. That he's picked the right side of the spiritual pantheon, I guess, you know.

Nic

And Arsenio, once again, great. His character, really funny. The preacher. I mean, that's. It's a trope, and he does a really good job of it. But then he introduces the entertainment for the night. Who is Randy Watson? Randy Watson with his band, Sexual Chocolate.

Steve

Right? Yeah.

Nic

And he comes out there. Basically, in his mind, there's a stadium full of people all on their feet who will not, you know, never stop applauding for.

Steve

Right.

Nic

And in reality, everyone's just kind of like, what's up with this guy?

Steve

Basically yawning. Yeah, that's. And that's Eddie Murphy playing this. This character, Randy Watson. I do love the way that the pastor actually introduces him. He says, you know him as Joe the Policeman from the what's Going Down? Episode of that's My Mama. Like, so it's like, in my mind, this is already a relatively obscure series. It's some specific single episode appearance of, like, a character that didn't even get a full name, Joe the Policeman. So it's just, you know, anything you can grab onto that says this is a celebrity of some kind. Right.

Nic

Randy Watson singing. He's singing the Greatest Love of All. Right? But then when he sings it, he's like. And they can't take away my dignity because the greatest. Like, the way that he just did that line makes me laugh so hard. It's just such a, like, Al Green, James Brown thing where they're doing a cover song and they'll just. The previous note went too long, and now I gotta slow it down and.

Steve

I gotta zip through some lyrics real quick.

Nic

Yeah. Al Green. How do youo Mend a broken heart cover of the Bee Gees song. He does. It's a great song, but he definitely does some of that, so I love that.

Steve

Yeah. And the. Our three barbers are there in the audience. And the one not played by either Eddie Murphy or Hall loves Randy Watson. That boy.

Nic

Good.

Steve

He's super. Yeah. And the rest of the other two of them, like, you are out of your mind. Like, this guy's terrible.

Nic

And Lisa. So now we're introduced to Lisa, Lisa McDowell, who's the daughter of the owner of McDowell's restaurant, which we'll get into in a bit. And they're. They're serving food there and everything. And Lisa gets up to give a speech. And this is somebody that. Akeem is like, this woman's great. This is what I'm looking for.

Steve

Well, she's beautiful and she's clearly articulate. She's. She's up there talking in front of a crowd and, like, has, like, you know, seems like she's involved in this community stuff. I mean, it's like, you know, for the things he claims to be looking for, she ticks a lot of boxes right off the bat, right? This is an intelligent, articulate woman who's gorgeous. So it's like, you know, obviously age appropriate for him, everything. So, you know, he's basically. It's love at first sight for Prince Akeem. He's, like, way into it. But we do see that Lisa has at least, if we're not sure exactly the state of the relationship off the bat. But there is obviously a man that she's there with. You know, his name is Daryl. I don't think we hear it there, but, you know, the one thing we see is, like, she asks for collection plates to go around, right? And Daryl, who we, you know, will learn is very wealthy, his family owns hair care products company that's wildly successful, gives no money at all, just hands the basket on, you know, as every elderly person in the crowd is throwing at least a buck or two right into it. And Akeem takes, you know, a absolute gangster's wad of money off of. Off of semi to put into the basket. Probably thousands of dollars right into the basket.

Nic

It was a real Mike McD getting yelled out by his girlfriend. Amount of money.

Steve

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. So. But yeah, so we get. This is an introduction to several of our characters that we're going to be spending a lot more time with, especially Lisa, her father, Cleo McDowell and Daryl. They're all very important to the plot. And we. We Kind of meet them all at this rally. So.

Nic

Right. And. And. And AE decides that, well, they have to go down to McDowell's and, you know, getting close, right? They're at McDowell's. I don't know if this is the. The part where Mr. McDowell is going through the differences between McDonald's. So he's talking about, oh, well, you know, McDonald's is mad at us, but it was a totally different place. Completely different. They have the Big Mac. We have the Big Mick.

Steve

Right?

Nic

Their bun has sesame seeds. Our bun has no seeds. And like, all this stuff, which is very funny.

Steve

They have the golden arches. We have the golden arcs. It's probably the most egregious.

Nic

And as they're having this conversation, there's a photographer who I think is, you know, working for some lawsuit or whatever that McDonald's has against them, and they.

Steve

Chase him off, which wouldn't be a hard lawsuit to win, by the way. I think they'd probably do it funny enough. Obviously, McDonald's is the target of the spoof here for McDowell's, but that location on Queens Boulevard, filmed at was a Wendy's that they changed up to a McDowell's. And actually that Wendy's was open until, like, 2013, and then finally was torn down to build luxury apartment building. Hence the overall change in things in Queens.

Nic

Imagine living in a luxury apartment, thinking, this used to be a Wendy's.

Steve

This used to be a McDowell's.

Nic

So. So they end up getting jobs, right, at McDowell's. And. And Akeem, it's kind of funny. They're being shown how to do all this stuff, which obviously he's never done before. You know, how to mop, and he's just pushing it around, still in the bucket on the wheels. Another great Akeem face in this is the look as he's mopping his way by Lisa's office. Lisa's sitting in an office with a window, and he's just. Just looking and smiling at her. Just, oh, my God, it's so funny. And he has to pass by twice, I think, before he gets her attention.

Steve

At least I think he even says. I think he has to come in and say, like, can I get any garbage? Do you have any garbage to take out? Or whatever? And she's like, no, I'm good. He's like, so I love. I wrote this story. When you think of garbage, think of aim. I get what he's going for. But this is where. This is where colloquialism, I think, you know, comes in right when you're not used to the way a new country you're visiting, like, uses the language. He obviously knows English very well, but he doesn't know the, like, idiosyncrasies and the idiosyncras. So. But yeah, also this is the scene now. So we're at McDowell's. This is the scene we meet one of the other employees of McDowell's, played by Louis Anderson, the comedian.

Nic

Great Louie.

Steve

Cool little. Not cool, actually. Terrible little story that I read that I was kind of made me upset. Louie Anderson is in this movie because the studio insisted that there be a white person in the cast with speaking roles that, like, basically the entire cast had been set and it was basically all black folks. The studio said, we're not making this without, like, some white person that the audience can recognize. I guess.

Nic

Okay, this is how you deal with that. The guy who told you that is the guy in the movie. And his line is, hey, I made them put a white guy in this movie.

Steve

Yeah, it's real bad. But the upside of it is that, is that Murphy was allowed to basically have complete control over who, you know. He just like, Murphy, Eddie, go pick somebody.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And he and Louis were friends and he said, louie's funny. Louie's a friend of mine. I'm gonna put Louis in the movie. So, look, it worked out okay. But yeah, the fact that that was something that they had to do in order to, you know, when you. Especially when you look at the fact that outside of. Of Eddie Murphy writing the story, so much of the behind the camera creative team of this movie are white folks. This is not, you know, a completely. It's not like a Ryan Coogler film. Right. Or Jordan Peele film where, you know, a lot of the crew is also black. Like, this is a movie being made by white folks in the late 80s, you know, about a very black story. A very, like, African and black American story.

Nic

Wait, you're telling me that Barry W. Blosstein is white?

Steve

I. I'm. You know what? I'll be honest with you. I'm guessing. Yeah, I'm guessing, but. But I'm. I'm okay there. I'm a good 75.

Nic

So I wonder if they went the other way, if they were all white movies, if they were trying to make sure that a black person got in. My guess is probably not they weren't trying as hard for that.

Steve

G. Yeah, no, no. I think this. Nope, nope.

Nic

Oh, that sucks. Okay, well, I'm glad Louie's in it. I love Louis as an actor.

Steve

He's Very funny.

Nic

Great career, great guy from everything you hear. So good choice if you got to pick one.

Steve

Yeah. Say Eddie. Eddie made a good choice of us, basically. Yeah. But he. And he is very funny in this, and he's got some really great moments. He's an easy, sympathetic character because we get, like, Daryl kind of, you know, treating him like crap fairly early on. And. And so it's very easy to. To root for Louis and to sort of like he. And he's just there in the background for the most part, but, you know, reasonably good dude.

Nic

Daryl Gerald comes into the scene, I think here, and he pulls up in like, the, like the Billy Madison Trans Am or whatever car, just whatever car made a guy look like an asshole in 1988. And. And he comes in and Mr. McDowell only cares about getting good with this guy. And he's, oh, what can I get you? Basically steals a shake off somebody else's tray who is just up there to pick it up. And Daryl looks over, I think, at Louis Anderson just like, snaps and just says straw.

Steve

Yeah, exactly.

Nic

Which is.

Steve

Oh, yeah. So Daryl is the. The heir apparent to the Soul Glow hair care product fortune. This is like a Jheri curl activator product that does. Is, you know, mentioned numerous times throughout the film. It's where his family gets their money. And, you know, and therefore, in the world of, like, Queens, New York, and. And, you know, within the black community, I think in Queens at the time, they were very wealthy. This. They really, you know, these were like, big dogs when it comes to, like, how much money this family would have had. But obviously on a global scale, when you're talking about a royal family from. From. From an African nation that is clearly like Wakanda level of prosperity in Zamunda, right. If it doesn't have the technology, like, a very prosperous nation is going to have a very, very wealthy royal family. So we know that, like, you know, in the grand scheme of things, you know, Daryl is small potatoes compared to AIM and the wealth that he possesses. But, you know, in their world, he's super rich. So. Yeah. So Cleo McDowell, Mr. McDowell is constantly trying to make sure that Daryl has everything he wants and, like, you know, that. That he is having positive interactions with him because he believes, you know, probably correctly, if nothing else changes, that his daughter will marry Daryl and she'll be set up for life. He won't have to worry about her, like, whatever. Right. It's all very patriarchal, but makes sense. I did think it was weird, and I wrote this down later. But. But it starts here. Daryl always refers to Mr. McDowell as Cleo. And I feel like that is just so not my experience with the black friends I've had over my life. Like, they were any, any parental or like elder figure was sir or ma' am or Mr. Or Mrs.

Nic

This.

Steve

Like, they were never referred to by their first names. And, and it is interesting. And I'm. And I'm confident we are meant to notice this.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

That Daryl does not refer to Mr. McDowell as Mr. McDowell. He never says sir to him in response. I think it's always, hey, Cleo, can I do this? Hey, Cleo, how's it going? And it's like, it feels so disrespectful and I think, again, totally intentionally.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Because Daryl is a piece of shit. So.

Nic

Well, and he's disrespectful. But also Mr. McDowell is so kind of obsequious towards Daryl. He probably would have been like, please call me Cleo. Like, right away. Like as.

Steve

Was that a word you learned watching rounders or did you know obsequious before?

Nic

Obsequious. When I was doing my mock trial group, we were saying, don't be obsequious to the judge.

Steve

Exactly. Be deferential.

Nic

Oh. So the barber, he was back at the barbershop and I think they were giving him some advice, which is basically getting good with her dad.

Steve

That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. American girls, it's all about getting in good with their father.

Nic

So he's trying to get in good with Lisa and get in good with Mr. McDowell. Just trying to work hard and make a good impression and everything thing he does end up sending a gift to Lisa. I think she had mentioned something about, I don't know, receiving a gift. And. And it says from a secret admirer. Not Daryl.

Steve

Not Daryl. Yeah. It's a pair of like half million dollar, which is just absolutely crazy.

Nic

Lisa and Daryl and Lisa's sister, Right. Are going to a basketball game. Lisa basically invites AEM to go as her sister. Sister's date.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Because her and Daryl are going to the St. John's game. So it's Lisa's sister Akeem. Daryl, Lisa. And during this entire game, you know, Daryl is just being the just prototypical American shithead about other countries and other sports and, you know, oh, I bet you don't even know what it's like to wear clothes and all this stuff. Just super disrespectful. At the same time, though, Lisa's sister is Jack and a team off.

Steve

Yeah. She is so. And it's what we learn about Patricia, right, the little sister character is that, you know, she does seem to be something of a gold digger. She wants, you know, to, like, have. And so why would she be into the guy that takes the trash out at McDowell's? Like, it just seems like an odd person for her to be so kind of immediately into. Other than maybe she just really wants.

Nic

A boyfriend into whoever. Yeah, it seems like just boy crazy. Like, he's nice, he's good looking.

Steve

Yeah. He's attractive. Dude, for sure.

Nic

But very funny. It didn't take long, so she's probably pretty good at it. So he's trying to have a conversation while she's also clearly doing this to him under his coat that's on his lap. Really funny. When he leaves his seat in the stadium at halftime, I think he's in line for the bathroom and one of the employees there recognizes him. He appears to be someone who's from Zamunda.

Steve

Yeah. He even said, I'm a loyal citizen of Zamunda. And he just is bowing and getting on the ground and trying to kiss his hand, all this kind of stuff. And all Akeem wants to do is like, no, no, no, it's okay. Stay away. Like, I don't want this attention. I do think here, though, in this scene at the game, you know, we talk about Daryl being a real piece of garbage, right. A real piece of work. And I think that it's important that he is that way, because if he's not a jerk, if he's not this, like, racist, anti African, you know, xenophobe, then really, Hakeem is just trying to steal some guy's girlfriend. Yeah, Right. So it's like we really need to establish for Akeem to still be a good guy. We need to establish just how bad a guy Daryl is.

Nic

Right.

Steve

And this, you know, other things happen too, but this sequence is one of the key ones, I think that is the absolute, just rudeness with which Daryl talks to. To Akeem is. It's just really gross and just really crappy. So, yeah, I think. But I think it's an important piece, right?

Nic

And yeah, and they. They catch Hakeem basically talking to these people from Zamuda who want to then take a picture with him and everything. They're so excited. And. And there are two of them at that point. They like, oh, thank you. This is the best day of my life. And they walk away and they say, who was that? And Aem says, oh, just a man I met in the restroom.

Steve

That's a dick.

Nic

Really good.

Steve

Yeah. So after they go to the game, I think that's when they end up back at the next day. We in the back of McDowell's. Lisa and Daryl are there just talking over their table. Daryl gets up to go get a call. Coffee. Because he's basically trying to convince Lisa, I can get you anything you want. I can get you, you know, I can take care of you, like, whatever. She. And she's kind of like, yeah. I mean, she's a woman who wants to like, run her own life, clearly, right. She wants a bit. She wants to have a career and do whatever. And he's like, I'll take care of you, you know, here, I'll just go get you a coffee, right? It's kind of a cute thing. It's like, okay, like, whatever. And she kind of smiles and gets up. So then Akeem goes to talk to her for a bit and she asks, you know, how did she like the game? How did you like the game? And stuff. And she invites him to sit down. So when he does, he's still got the mop with him. And this is like one the of of the kind of most famous scenes probably in the movie right now. In walks Samuel L. Jackson with a shotgun and he is ready to rob the McDowells. Now, he's not pulling a pumpkin and Honey Bunny at the beginning of Pulp Fiction and taking everybody's wallets as well, but he is at least robbing the cash drawer. Right. At a minimum. And Daryl is just shrinking into the corner and just absolutely terrified for his life and, you know, trying to hide behind. If he could have hid behind a child, he would have at this point.

Nic

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Steve

But it's really great. There's a moment of recognition between Akim and Semi. Semi's behind the counter, you know, at first. And Akeem is sitting with Lisa and they see each other and they kind of. They don't fully nod. I think they probably would have been too obvious. But there's clearly recognition between two of them. Like, they're going to take care of this.

Nic

Right? And it established earlier when they were still in Zamunda, Akeem woke up for his training and stuff, that they both have some ability in hand to hand combat with this stick fighting and stuff that they're doing. So they're no joke when it comes.

Steve

Like Napoleon Dynamite, great BO staff skills.

Nic

Yeah. So, yeah. So they end up. They end up foiling the robbery.

Steve

He ends up throwing. He kind of unscrews the mop Handle, you know, the, the stick, whatever. And then, and then really gives Samuel Jackson like four or five chances to like, just, you know, he's like, no, you need to give me the gun. Yeah, I will be forced to thrash you. Like, you know, he's very like, calm about it. And he ends up, yeah, he ends up knocking the gun out of his hand, knocking him down, and semi jumps over the counter and grabs the shotgun and, you know, that's it. So it's done and they are able to arrest it. And Mr. McDowell mentioned, you know, thanks them quite nicely. You know, thanks them for, for obviously a great, it's a great thing they just did. And that guy apparently had robbed them five times, I think he says. And so, you know, he says, I. I have a feeling he won't be coming back. Yeah, dude, he's gonna be in jail. So you're right, he won't be coming back. You're absolutely right.

Nic

He's gonna try a president mask next year.

Steve

Exactly. But then he. McDonald says them, hey, keep your Sunday night open. I'm throwing a party.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Oh, feels so good for Akeem.

Nic

And Sam gets invited. He's finally part of it.

Steve

He's, he's. They see. He sees us as equal.

Nic

And then he's at the party. And it basically cuts from that to him explaining how to valet park the cars to Hakeem.

Steve

Exactly.

Nic

Quick aside, I was with my family. We had this big family get together for my grandfather's birthday. It was his 90th birthday. There was a ton of people to the house and they were very adamant that myself and my other cousins were not to touch any of the food. And we're not to do anything because that's for the guests. We didn't count as guests that we flew out there. Right.

Steve

And we.

Nic

Our job was to park cars in front of all these neighbors, houses, who were all universally pissed about how many cars there were. So we were like parking these like, Oldsmobiles. It was all 90 year old people going there and we were starving and we were not allowed to eat any of the food. And then we come inside and we see my uncle feeding one of the sandwiches to a dog. We're just like, how disrespectful was this, like, recent. Yeah, this was like in 2016 or something.

Steve

Wow.

Nic

Yeah. You know, it can happen to the best of us. So I definitely. And from Akeem's perspective, I mean, this is a thing probably that happens to a lot of people where you feel like you're invited somewhere by your Boss and you're in, but you're still their employee when you're out somewhere. Which is so not cool. But a lot of people act that way.

Steve

Absolutely. It's very, you know, sort of the American version of the caste system. Right. Management versus labor in a broad sense. And a lot of people, yeah, that's never going to change for them. Even if the environment changes. Even if, well, we're not at work now, we're now at this private thing. Yeah. But he's only thinking of that them in the context of not like this guy just saved money for me and potentially lives of my customers and like all this kind of like really like nothing bonus, whatever. Just come do more work on a Sunday. Right. It's very, it's very American.

Nic

And it's crazy too, because I know that McDowell's was not a very well paying job.

Steve

Sure.

Nic

Must have been minimum wage back then was like, I don't know, 725 an hour. And now it's probably.

Steve

No, oh, fuck. It was like 725. It was like four bucks back then.

Nic

But still unacceptable. So one very funny thing. So Daryl comes up. Akeem is bartending now at the party and Daryl's talking to him. He says, you know, women, women all want a man to take, take charge and tell him what to do. So he's laying it out for them. Daryl's family is also at the party who all have their Jheri curls. And they're sitting on the couch and it shows. The three of them get up off the couch as there's going to be an announcement and there's like a grease spot behind their heads. On the couch.

Steve

Couch.

Nic

So good. So good.

Steve

Really? One of the more famous visuals from the movie, right, are those three grease spots on the couch. Yeah. Oh, boy. Yeah, the. The Soul Glow stains.

Nic

Daryl basically hijacks this party all time dick boyfriend move where he announces an engagement that Lisa has not been told about, agreed to, and even apparently has.

Steve

Even told Mr. McDowell that she accepted. Because the way he announces it is, is, you know, Daryl popped the question. Lisa said yes. It's not even like, I don't know, I felt like it would have been less shitty if he was just like, I'm telling her we're getting married. But like he like said he asked her. It was very, very bad. Very bad Daryl. Yeah, bad Daryl.

Nic

And Lisa obviously is very upset by that. And she, she kind of goes outside and she's sitting outside in the swing. On the swing. Akeem goes out and is very sensitive and, and talks to her and. Yeah, it seems like that's maybe the beginning of the spark between the two of them.

Steve

Yeah, I mean, I think it starts with the robbery attempt because, you know, she sees the way Aim reacts versus the way that Daryl reacts. Like, that's certainly part of it.

Nic

Oh, and he says after the robbery, he's like, I wanted to help you, but I had that coffee. Reminds me of my all time favorite Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy. Remember that on.

Steve

Absolutely, yeah.

Nic

He says, I always carry two sacks of something around, so if somebody says, hey man, can you give me a hand with this? I can say, nope, sorry. Got these sacks.

Steve

Perfect.

Nic

The coffee is definitely. Oh, sorry, I got these. I wish I didn't have this coffee.

Steve

Well, the funniest part is too, if you watch back of that scene, he clearly is not holding the coffee. He's like ordered some coffee that he has not yet received. He's just cowering in the corner. But anyway, yeah, so this is the point, right, where we start to get. We start to see some romance building. You know, Akeem is sort of like, like slowly convincing Lisa that he is a good dude and, and, and you know, worthy of sort of interest. And she seems to be falling for him. So they agree. I think this is the point where they agree to go on a date, essentially. And he was going to cook for her, right?

Nic

And I think he was going to have her back to his apartment. But he walks into the apartment and sees that Sammy has used a little bit of the royal money to make himself more comfortable in there. So it's got a hot tub. How the fuck did they get that hot tub into the apartment? How is there enough electricity to properly, like, run that thing?

Steve

You're right about all these things, but it goes so much deeper than that. The floors are refinished, the walls are repainted. This has all happened today. Not even in 20. It's like literally like that morning Akeem woke up and like, you see his side of the room is like very clean and his bed is made, like, whatever. And Sammy's side of the room is very disheveled and there's stuff here. When he says, know, clean this place up. Why don't you like, you know, tidy this up? I don't remember how exactly he puts it, but basically it's like, you know, improve your space and maybe you'll feel better. Yeah, well, he takes that as, yeah, carte blanche to just spend money. But yeah, the amount of work that got done in that apartment in the course of like, eight hours is obviously completely impossible.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But a lot of fun. It really is a beautiful looking place at that point.

Nic

Yeah, it looks great then. So he can't. He can't let Lisa in because then she knows. She thinks he's a student from Africa. He works at McDowell's. He's right. He's not trying to get anything from her for being poor, but he doesn't want that to influence anybody's decision about him, which. Which makes perfect sense. They go. So basically he goes. And he's like, semi. You're cut off. Like, give me your wad of cash. Give me the royal cash wad. I'm going to repossess it. And he takes it from me. He's like, I'm out of here. So he suggests that he and Lisa go on a walk. Basically, like, I'm sorry, my apartment's too embarrassing. I don't want to let you in there. While they're walking, there's a couple of homeless people on their walk. And he throws the money to them.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Who turn out to be Randolph and Mortimer Duke.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

Trading Places. Who were left destitute at the end of Trading Places.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

And I think he says, oh, Randolph, we're back.

Steve

Yeah, it's very funny. It's a great little throw. And again, another sort of, like, connection, just a Landis Murphy connection by going back to Trading Places, which, you know, I always love these kind of things where. Where, you know, this is obviously not a movie that is in any way truly a sequel to Trading Places. Obviously, the characters are all different. Everything. But now we know these two stories take place in the same universe, which means that there is a commodities broker in Philadelphia who looks a hell of a lot like the Prince of Zamunda in the same universe or whatever, so.

Nic

Or an ex commodities broker on a desert island with Dan.

Steve

Oh, right. That's right. I guess they did. They did retire, didn't they, at the end of that. Yeah.

Nic

So let's see. So they dance and they're, you know, they. They kind of hook up. And Lisa expresses that she doesn't want a rich guy because she obviously. Daryl, colors her view of that. And the way her dad. Her dad is weird about money.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

And the McDowell's house is amazing. I mean, they. They're very well off. But I don't think he sees it that way.

Steve

Yeah. It's probably because of that bizarre gray wood paneling he has in that one room. That room was super weird, but, yeah. No, I think this is one Thing I wanted to call out, like, I really felt like as wacky as this movie is and how much of this movie is based around us being silly and crazy, this budding romance and the way that these two characters fall for each other, I feel like, is really honest and really, really earned. And, you know, it doesn't feel too fast and it doesn't feel like crazy. It's not like they jump in the sack right away or something very, you know, Hollywood. It's like, it feels very sweet and it's a really great budding sort of relationship between these two. So that when we get to the point where, where, you know, Daryl is having the door shut in his face later, it's like we don't care, like off, dude. Like these, these two are meant for each other. So. Yeah, but it's like, as I said, it felt very honest and, and very like a very good build up.

Nic

So Semi comes home to the apartment and Patrice is there. That's Tree, Lisa's sister. And she's seen everything, right? So she knows something's up. What's going on with you guys?

Steve

Right?

Nic

And what are you into?

Steve

Like, like you guys selling drugs? Like, what are you doing?

Nic

Yeah, yeah. And what Sammy tells her is that he's the prince and Aim is his assistant.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

Servant Aim. Solution for this apartment situation when he gets back is to trade apartments with the landlord.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Which is really funny. So they end up swapping places. So he now has meager dwellings once again.

Steve

Yes, exactly. Which is super important to him before. Before Hakeem arrives back home and finds Semi and Patrice together. He is singing in the street. I don't remember what song it was now, but it's. He's singing about being in love and like, whatever.

Nic

And they're yelling.

Steve

People are yelling from every angle. Just shut up, shut the up. Like all this stuff. And he's just singing the top of his lungs. And I gotta be honest, that is like low key. One of the funniest scenes in this movie, just watching him in pure joy, just singing down the street while everybody in New York is shouting him down is just so. I love that makes me. That one makes me laugh out out loud every time. Yeah. So, yeah, so Semi now, you know, they've had to move into another crappy apartment downstairs. He's got no money, right? That was all taken from him by Akeem. And so he sends a telegram back to Zamunda, to the King and Queen. And the woman at the Western Union station is reading his telegram like she goes, you know, please send US$300,000, you know, immediately, whatever. And she goes, are you sure that's enough? And he goes, goes, should it be 400,000? I don't know. You're right. 500,000. Why don't you just ask for a cool million? You don't think that would be too much? It's like he is so out of touch. He just doesn't get it. This woman is like, whatever, dude. But this unfortunately alerts, you know, the king and queen to what's really kind of happening. Right. Is that, is that they're surprised to learn that they've been in Queens, New York this whole time. And now apparently they have no money. What is going on? So they fly out and they're now arriving in the United States. States to figure out what is going on.

Nic

Yep. And I will say that just their trip to the US Cost more than the million bucks. So it definitely wasn't in pursuit of their money because high end luxury travel.

Steve

They bring all their, like, rose bearers.

Nic

And all their people walking on rose petals everywhere. The lion sash that James Earl Jones has is so good.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And I thought it was King. I don't think it's Joffrey.

Steve

It's like, it's Joffy Jaffer. Joffy. Okay. And then, and then Leon, I think is the queen's name. Okay, I'm going to screw that up.

Nic

But yeah, Mr. McDowell, there's a scene where he's at his desk and he's talking on a hamburger phone and he's reading the McDonald's operations manual.

Steve

Definitely not stealing, though. Yeah, it's all legit.

Nic

And the king, basically, he comes into McDowell's looking for Akeem. He'd been told that he would be there.

Steve

There.

Nic

AEM comes home and he sees the flower petals and he knows Dad's in town.

Steve

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's the giveaway. So now he's freaking out. So, like, yeah, like the king, queen are basically running all over the place, right. They've, they've, they've gone to the apartment. They found out that he works at McDowell's. So he goes and he checks there and they're not there. But he meets Cleo. The king does meets Cleo. They'll be at my house tonight. Okay. So then they're gonna go back to their hotel. They're staying at the Waldorf Astoria in Manasseh, which of course they also found semi and told him that he is being punished now and must be confined to the suite at the Waldorf. Astoria. And he must be bathed thoroughly. Yes. So. So Semi is not upset about the situation at all. He is all good. But now the King and Queen have gone back to the hotel and they basically told Cleo, hey, when. When he. When you see him, call me. Don't tell him I'm here. Just call me. And so we end up with, you know, basically, Akim is going to take Lisa back to his apartment, but they're about to do the deed. I mean, they're gone to that point now. Yeah. But he, of course, can't because he sees the rose petals and he knows his parents are in town. So he goes to take Lisa home. But when they get there, Cleo acts weird as hell. Mr. McDowell is like, all of a sudden, he loves Akeem. He thinks he's the greatest guy ever. I love. He wants the dog to get out of the way. He just goes, get out of your dog. Like, to his own dog. Which is like a super funny moment.

Nic

I had a note here and I looked it up after the. Really hoping it was true. Big all caps. Is McDowell's dog the same dog as Precious in Silence of the Lambs? And I really thought it was, and my wife really thought it was, and it's not.

Steve

It's a different dog. Bummer. Like a different dog breed or just a different dog actor?

Nic

Dog actor.

Steve

Okay. All right.

Nic

I do love the dog. I mean, talking about breaking the fourth wall. The dog does it more than anyone. Towards the end of this, it keeps cutting to the dog, which is really funny to get the reaction.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

So, yeah. Now Cleo knows that he's a prince and Lisa is too much for her. And she leaves there. And the King and Queen show up at Cleo's house being very disrespectful.

Steve

Yeah. Well, the King, especially the Queen, is pretty okay. She's pretty cool about everything. But, yeah, King Joffe is being a real dick. Yeah.

Nic

Yeah. And let's see. So Akeem leaves. He goes after Lisa. The King basically wants to pay off Mr. McDowell.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

He's like, offers him, you know. Yeah, like a million dollars. Right. He has his royal checkbook valid, which is good.

Steve

So.

Nic

Yeah. And. And Cleo McDowell, to his credit, it's like, no. Like, he's kind of realizing that, oh, my God, dude, is this what being crazy about money turns you into?

Steve

Yeah, he's like, has no respect for me. Standing in my house. He's disrespecting my daughter. Like, you know, it's a very.

Nic

Flower petals everywhere.

Steve

Who's gonna clean this shit up.

Nic

So. So. And at the same time, Daryl is. Oh, yeah, Daryl had been kicked out because as Cleo slams the door in Daryl's face, like, sorry, my daughter is upgrading.

Steve

She has a prince now.

Nic

And Patrice ends up talking to Daryl, and she says, oh, we're gonna get you out of these wet clothes. Another fourth wall where Daryl kind of gives a look to the camera.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

As much as he's a. It's an asshole character, it's a very funny role. Like, great acting. Eric lasalle, really funny.

Steve

Wonderful job by Eric lasalle. Yeah, we want to make sure it's clear here. We're talking about the characters of Dick. Eric Las Vegas sounds fantastic in the role. Yeah. And, yeah, it's. It's like she starts taking his jacket off. Fine. But then her hands dip below the sort of frame of the shot. You hear a zipper noise, and he just turns to the camera, like, she's.

Nic

Going straight for it. I mean, Patrice gets it. Really an all star.

Steve

She's got her in line, man. She knows what's up. Like, she's gonna get that Soul Glow money.

Nic

Right? Right. And then. So Akeem is going after Lisa, and he finds her, and she's on the subway, right? They have this, you know, kind of blow up there, and she's like, I don't. Like, you lied to me. I don't care about this. Like, how can I believe anything you say?

Steve

How do I know you're even completely legitimate?

Nic

Right?

Steve

Totally.

Nic

She takes the earrings off and throws them at him. And he just catches them in an amazing way, like, it's Gold Glove.

Steve

Like, absolute Web gems on espn. That was the best catch because, first of all, it's two. Right? Six of both earrings. Puts them both in one hand and throws both of them at him. Those are not flying in perfect unison.

Nic

And here he is, Ozzy Smith with this reaction. Unbelievable.

Steve

Fantastic play by the shortstop.

Nic

And he says. He's like, oh, you want me to renounce my throne? I'll renounce my throne. And then he does it in the same way that Michael Scott declares bankruptcy on the office. He just announces to the train, I.

Steve

Hereby renounce my throne.

Nic

One Landis thing. When they get off the subway car, there's a movie poster on the wall, which is kind of a recurring theme in his movies. And it's for a movie called See youe Next Wednesday.

Steve

Oh, I wondered about that.

Nic

I think in Trading Places. I don't know if it's a See you next Tuesday or a See you next Wednesday poster, but this shows up a few times in the Blues Brothers. The billboard that the cops are sitting under when they're there for a speed trap, I think is a See you next Wednesday or See you next Tuesday, that's fine billboard. So he gets that in, in a lot of his movies.

Steve

It feels like the C. It would be see you next Wednesday because it's like they could, they could more easily. They wouldn't have to explain the joke to any sensors. Right. At a C U next Tuesday, you maybe end up having to give a reason why. But a CX Wednesday, it's like, what are you talking about? It's like it's just cunw. What does that mean? I don't know. Like it's nothing. That's not a word.

Nic

So Lisa, it's still. It doesn't work for her. And. And she leaves and she gives her earrings to this. Or Aem gives the earrings to this old woman.

Steve

Oh, right, yeah.

Nic

Which is good. And it is the first time few times I watched this movie, I didn't catch when they said the value that these are half a million dollar earrings. So it's really funny that that's.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

Life changing for that lady. So this is kind of it, right? They. They got to go back to Zamunda. Like he can't really disobey his father. He, he doesn't have any power, he doesn't have any of his own money or anything that.

Steve

And I think he's also, you know, much to Akeem's credit, you know, Lisa was very clear, this is not going to work. He didn't chase her again. He didn't keep pushing. He just was like, he gave it his all and said he would give up his crown, he would give up his wealth, he would give up everything for her. And she said, no, it's just not going to work. And he. And it's like, what are you going to do if you're not going to be a dick or like try to force someone into something? Yeah. It's over. Right. At that point. So they leave America without her and they go back to Zamunda and he prepares to marry the woman who's probably based on the fact that he never told her to stop. Probably still hopping on one foot and barking like a dog.

Nic

After all, she's going to have a real atrophy in her lifted up leg.

Steve

Yes. Real one big cast, the other one's real small.

Nic

Yeah. So he's back in Zamunda now for the wedding and they go through some of the ceremony that they do. And Akeem is. He's standing there. He's not too excited about it because he's assuming this is just somebody who's been assigned to me. And he lifts the veil and sees that Lisa's the bride. And this is kind of the climax of the movie. And Cleo's there, and everyone's there. It's a big party. They're driving, they're riding away in the carriage. And I think Akeem says something to the effect of, you know, how I could still give this up if you want. And she just kind of looks around and she's like, yeah, yeah.

Steve

I thought the funny part about this is, like, there is no way that the McDowell's could have arrived in Zamunda, because we know for sure. We see Cleo is there and we see Lisa's. I don't know if Patrice is there, too, but at the very least, Mr. McDowell is there and Lisa's there. I don't think there's any way they could have arrived in that country and spent any amount of time there preparing for this day, even if they arrived that morning. And word would not have gotten to October Hakeem that this boisterous, gregarious American and his daughter are. Are at the wedding for some reason. You know what I mean? It's just like, to me, it doesn't make any sense, but whatever. We let it happen because it's a movie. You suspend disbelief. He is shocked to see that it's Lisa and not whatever the woman at the beginning of the movie was named. And so, yeah, this. This is their happily ever after. They ride off into the, you know, the sunrise. It looked like it's morning, but, you know, they're. They're there to. To just enjoy their lives in Zamunda now. She gets to be princess and eventually queen. And it's a happy ending.

Nic

That's it. Yeah. And it's amazing. And the two things at the very end of this movie are two of my favorite things that we've talked about a bit before the end credits where there's some music playing. It was a cool. Like one of those cool, really intense drum beats, and it's showing, you know, the actor's name on the screen with a small clip of them in the film. I love doing the credits that way. Blues Brothers, Trading Places, they do the credits the same way. And then after that, when we get to the black and white credit credits, we get the Coming to America song, right? We get the song that's titled after the movie.

Steve

Oh, but before that we get that, we get the post credits or the mid credit sequence, I guess. Right where we're back in the barbershop.

Nic

Yes.

Steve

And Eddie Murphy as the Jewish customer tells one of the best jokes ever about the soup. I won't do the whole thing, but about the soup and taste the soup. What's wrong with the soup? Just taste it. Where's the spoon? It's such a good joke. But yeah, that, that is coming to America. It's a, It's a great. It's a lot of fun. And here we are at the end. Who's going first? Who should I go first? You go first about this.

Nic

Oh, I can go first.

Steve

All right. Go for it, man. What do you got?

Nic

So, yeah, and rewatching this, I've probably, I've seen this, I don't know, eight, ten times. Like I've seen it a bunch of times. A lot of things from this movie. I think the Soul Glow reference, you'll still even hear that on like Sports center. If there's like a random athlete with curly hair, you know, like, you get that a lot. It's just such a great story. And like I said earlier, it's not exploitative in the way that so many movies that featured black stars were during that time or especially in reference to Africans. So I thought that was really cool. And it, you know, Eddie Murphy was probably important to him and important to the film that there was a lot of dignity behind this. It wasn't a caricature.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Also, Eddie Murphy, this, I think was the first movie where he wasn't really playing as Eddie Murphy.

Steve

Fair.

Nic

Right. Like, you know, not that he's the exact same, but the way that, that Vince Vaughn or certain actors would do roughly the same thing in their movies because that's what they're good at. So Eddie Murphy and as the fast talking guy trading Bill Murray is almost.

Steve

The same guy in every.

Nic

Sure, yeah, yeah. But he really was playing. It was a very restrained Eddie Murphy. He did all these characters. Characters and stuff, but he wasn't doing the normal Eddie Murphy stuff. And it worked. And Arsenio was great. I really, I really like this movie. It was beautiful.

Steve

I don't think there's a lot of.

Nic

Fat on the movie.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

I don't know what I would have cut out for. Almost two hours is pretty long for a comedy of that era, but I wouldn't cut much out and I really did love it on the rewatch. So I'm gonna go ahead and give this one a four out of five.

Steve

Okay. Nice. Yeah, I, for me, me, there was something about this, this watching through of the movie for me where I didn't enjoy it as much as I remember enjoying it. There was just kind of parts of it that, that did, to me did feel like they lagged a little bit. A lot of the humor is kind of dated. I definitely dealt with kind of a lot of it being like, you know, sort of like, is this, I guess, in a sense, is this. For me, I felt very much like watching this movie like I do, listening to like, a Kendrick Lamar album, where it's like, I know this is important. And it's like, like, but it really feels not directed at me at all, which is like perfectly fine. But it's like.

Nic

But you love Louie Anderson's character.

Steve

No, totally favorite part of the whole movie, the best part of the movie was that buck, that space between Louis Anderson's teeth. Yeah, no, I, I, this is a good movie. Don't get me wrong. Like, I'm not saying it's not a good movie, but for me, this is like a three out of five. Like, this was a movie where I enjoy it. Obviously, you know, it's not the kind of movie you even have to recommend to people because they all know, everyone knows about this movie. But yeah, there was just something. I don't know if it felt dated. I feel like a lot of the movies were we've watched lately and talked about. We've been able to point out specifically that they don't feel dated for one reason or another. Right. That is, they seem to. The Fugitive feels like that. I feel like River Wild could have been set in any time period. Like, there's nothing dated, personally about it. I guess the River Wild, you might have cell phones. But anyway, you know, this movie to me felt dated. This felt very much like a late 80s movie that kind of could only exist in the late 80s. I don't know if it's like the gentrification of New York City that's occurred since then. That's part of the. Of it or what, but, like, there was definitely a lot of it that was like, yeah, that, that kind of wouldn't work anymore or, you know, I don't think that joke would hit if it was made today. Those kinds of things. So for me, yeah, three out of five, good movie. Not as good as I remember it.

Nic

For some reason, I will say I do remember. Like, there's things of this movie that I remember being really funny and I would remember being really funny. Parts I didn't laugh out loud as much during this as I did during, like, Spaceballs, for example, something like that. But, but yeah, sorry, continue.

Steve

No, no, that was pretty much it. Like I, like I said, it's totally, totally legit. It gives us a 7 out of 10, which was right at where, Rotten Tomatoes. Yeah. So it's a, you know, it's definitely a good movie, a lot of fun. But yeah, I think that's, I think that kind of wraps it up for coming to America.

Nic

All right, well, this, this was a good one. And, you know, getting back into the comedy after a few actions and more serious movies in a row has been fun. And you're up next. Steve, what do we, what do we have coming up next?

Steve

We're going to stay in the 80s, I feel like, like that's, you know, we've definitely done more 90s. Like I said, we've done a lot of like, action, a lot of kind of like thriller stuff, few comedies. One of the things I've noticed is we really have not, despite starting with a Bill Murray movie at the very beginning of this series, we haven't hit a lot of the huge actors of the time. Right. We've hit a few of them, you know, definitely, for sure. But I think, you know, like this one, we finally got like an Eddie Murphy movie under our belts. It's time to, to sort of, you know, tackle one from another mainstay of 80s comedies. So. So we're going to go to 1985. We're headed off to Los Angeles and we're gonna go dig up what's going on down on the beach. We're gonna see if we can't help a particularly costume loving investigative journalist figure out whether or not there's cops running drugs on the beach. We're gonna watch Fletch starring Chevy Chase.

Nic

Beautiful.

Steve

Yeah. This is one that I have loved for ages. I think my dad was a huge fan of this movie and just it was on all the time. We had it on laserdisc. It was like that kind of thing. And it was always on. And the house, it's pg. It was nothing too untoward for, you know, younger kids to watch in this one. So, yeah, movie I've seen a bunch of times and easily my favorite thing Chevy Chase has ever done. Awesome.

Nic

Can't wait. Yeah, I remember loving this one. I've seen it a handful of times and I think it was one that my dad also liked when I was a kid. So I'm looking forward to this one.

Steve

Very cool. All right, well, that will be next week. Everybody out there, if you're listening and you enjoy the show, please head over to Apple, head over to Spotify, throw us a five star review. It helps people find the show. If you want to send us an email, tell us that we're doing terrible, that the show is just awful, you can do that or you can, you know, be nice to us, too. You can send an email at, to the show@2dads1movie.com. That's the number two and the number one. But, yeah, next week we'll see Fletch. This has been coming to America and this has been 2 dads one movie. I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

Thank you all so much. And we'll catch you next time.