Transcript

Louis Winthorpe (Trading Places)

Think big, think positive. Never show any sign of weakness. Always go for the throat. Buy low, sell high. Fear.

Louis Winthorpe (Trading Places)

That's the other guy's problem. Nothing you have ever experienced can prepare you for the unbridled carnage you're about to witness. Super Bowl, a World Series. They don't know what pressure is. In this building it's either kill or be killed.

Louis Winthorpe (Trading Places)

You make no friends in the pits and you take no prisoners.

Billy Ray Valentine (Trading Places)

No prisoners.

Louis Winthorpe (Trading Places)

One minute you're up half a million in soybeans and the next, boom. Your kids don't go to college and they've repossessed your Bentley. Are you with me?

Billy Ray Valentine (Trading Places)

Yeah. We gotta kill em motherfucker. We gotta kill them.

Steve

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. Welcome to another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie.

Steve

I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

And today we are moving away from November and Cagevember. And as much fun as that was, it's now December. If you're listening on the day this episode comes out, it is the first Wednesday in December.

Nic

That's right.

Steve

And what does that mean? That means we're getting close to Christmas. One of the best holidays of the year in my opinion. And for the next month we every single week we're going to open up a window on the Dadvent calendar.

Steve

Okay, now that everybody's done roariously applauding and laughing out there in podcast world.

Nic

And they probably paused it or knocked their radio over.

Steve

Oh my gosh.

Nic

Broke it so wild. Wild.

Nic

They had some time to. To crack up.

Steve

Pick your AirPods back up, put them back in your ear because you're so crazed and wild by this. This name. Okay, so we are Talking about the 1983 classic trading places starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.

Steve

The first of our five dadvent calendar movies. And Nic, you picked Trading Places for us. So talk to me, why'd you pick it? What's your story with it?

Nic

Yeah, well, I think you know, part of it is just the constant search for the non official Christmas movie.

Nic

Christmas movie. Right. So you want to have so you know, for years. We know the one that everyone says is a Christmas movie, Die Hard. But it's fun to just have something like that's not the Grinch to watch all the time, right?

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Shout out to the Grinch. I love the Grinch.

Steve

Which version? How many versions of the Grinch have there Been over there.

Nic

You know what, I'm going to be non specific about that and say that they're all equal, but I think you and I know exactly which one is good.

Steve

Yeah, the Benedict Cumber Grinch.

Nic

Yeah, exactly.

Steve

The newest one with the screaming goat. That's my favorite.

Steve

But.

Nic

Yeah, but yeah. So it's one that has kind of picked up steam in the last few years when we're always looking for stuff to watch around Christmas time. But I've, you know, been watching this since I was a teen. Yeah, it is very quotable.

Nic

It's loaded with a lot of our favorite people. Very early Eddie Murphy just, you know, blowing everybody off the screen and he's like sharing the screen with these other amazing performers. Yeah, just like super fun. It's a very satisfying result and like, it pokes fun at the right people and it just, it's funny. Like, it's still very funny and.

Nic

Yeah. How about you? You've. You're familiar with this and I think this is not your first journey through the Trading Places.

Steve

Definitely not my first visit to 1980s Philadelphia, for sure.

Steve

Yeah. This is like really classic satire. We've talked about satire before. Just as a form, as an art form, whatever. And this is a great piece of satire.

Steve

It punches up, which is always the best comedy. Punches up. And you're right, the cast is sort of like ridiculous before you add, fresh off of 48 hours, Eddie Murphy. Right. If this was just Dan Aykroyd and Jamie Lee, Curt and Denholm Elliott and, you know, Ralph Bellamy and Don Amechee and like that, you know, and then there was just some of.

Steve

It would still be a great movie. Yeah, Eddie Murphy makes it a real classic. Right. Like, really. And so, yeah, I, you know, I probably first saw this.

Steve

Yeah. Sometime in high school, actually. No, that's not even true. I'll bet you this is one of those ones I saw when I was like 10 or 11 on TBS, edited right. So that the swear words were all out and you know, and the Jamie Lee Curtis scenes that we grow to love, they're not there.

Steve

But still a great movie.

Nic

Same for me. Because I do remember at some point where I saw this movie unedited and it was like the Jamie Lee. I was like, are you kidding me? All this time, like also this in addition to this movie I already liked.

Nic

Yeah, I think you're right. This was a classic on cable.

Steve

Absolutely. 100%. So.

Steve

So definitely saw that. And, and you know, like, yeah, the cast is great. This is actually the third appearance, I believe on the podcast of one Mr. Denholm Elliott.

Nic

So super excited to see Denholm. Elliot, if you're listening.

Steve

Yeah, he's still alive, I don't think. He probably isn't.

Nic

You can listen from beyond the grave at some point.

Steve

We are available on, on, on Heaven's Cast. So you know, go, go ahead, Denholm.

Steve

Listen there. Yeah, no, so yeah, because he was in Toy Soldiers. He was in Indiana Jones and Last Crusade and now Trading Places. And speaking of things like the cast of the movie, let's get into the facts.

Nic

Yeah, let's hear some facts about it.

Steve

Trading Places came out on June 7, 1983, which we were both surprised to learn that it did not come out around Christmas or New Year's.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Which is obviously the, the focal point temporarily of the story. But that's okay. It is rated R with a running time of 116 minutes.

Steve

It's directed by John Landis, written by Timothy Harris and Herschel We Grod, starring among many others, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis. The scores rotten tomatoes 87% fresh. That is a solidly fresh critic score on our on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb a 7.5, which is nice. Good, solid score.

Steve

Siskel and Ebert. Two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. So there you go. Awards. It was nominated for an Oscar for best music for the score did not win.

Steve

Denholm Elliott and Jamie Lee Curtis both won supporting acting awards at the BAFTA Awards, which is the British Academy of Film and Telev Television Arts. So basically like England's version of the Academy Awards.

Nic

So would they be selecting from the same pool?

Steve

Generally it's just the, it's like movies that are released but they'll, they'll have different categories for like foreign and they'll treat things a little differently. And I do think that they are a little more, you know, British focused.

Steve

But. Yeah, but they, those were the winners for supporting actor and supporting actress in 1984 with and JLC. And then Eddie Murphy also won an award for this movie. He won an NAACP Image award for best lead actor.

Nic

He barely beat out Dan Aykroyd.

Steve

I guess. So we'll get into that. Oh boy, are we gonna get into that. Budget. 15 million dollar budget and the take at the box office, 90.4 million for six times what it cost.

Steve

A bona fide smash hit, which really surprises no one. Obviously, you know, didn't cost a ton to make even with the cast that we have.

Nic

Sure.

Steve

Not exactly a lot of special effects, you know, etc. Good.

Steve

Some good makeup and some really Bad makeup. So we'll, you know. Right.

Nic

But yeah, some good settings, but things that already exist.

Steve

Right.

Nic

They needed to get good establishing shots of these grand.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Places that they were in.

Steve

Absolutely. So, yeah, let's dive in, man.

Nic

All right, let's dive in. Yes. So I like that this movie gets right into it and. And I was actually really happy to see it was nominated for best music because I love the music throughout this. I am a big, like, classical music dummy.

Nic

Right. So I don't know the names of anything. So I'll hear something and be like, is that like the score of this or is this some, like, classic standard that I should know if I'd ever picked up a violin like my parents wanted me to? So, like. Yeah, the way that this starts off, the only way I can describe it as a non classical person is like, this is like rich people music.

Nic

This is kind of the music that would be playing in fancy places or whatever. But it's not showing anything fancy at the beginning. It's starting with, like, very kind of working class images of Philadelphia. Things are run down. One shot that I just absolutely love because I was trying to notice things more this time is it's showing these various statues that are kind of like historical figure statues.

Nic

And they're all kind of like rundown looking, covered in bird shit. And then the last statue it shows is a pristine Rocky statue, which. So this is made probably filmed in 82, 83. Right.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

The Rocky statue couldn't have been more than a few years old. And even nowadays people are like, this is stupid that this is like the highlight of our city is this thing from a movie.

Steve

Right. They do have that bell with the crack in it. They've got that too.

Nic

So, yeah, Rocky punched the bell. But it's very funny that I'm sure at the time people were even more like, oh, this historical, like once capital of America and our biggest tourist draw is this fucking Sylvester Stallone character.

Steve

Right.

Nic

So I thought it was really funny for them to slide that in there.

Steve

I completely agree.

Steve

This is one of my favorite, like, opening kind of montages in. In cinema, to be honest with you. Like, I love it because I'm a bit of a classical music nerd. I'll let you know. That is actually the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.

Nic

I'm not sure.

Steve

I don't know which Steve in my notes. I don't know which symphony orchestra was performing, but that is the Marriage of Figaro, which is. Yes. Sort of a.

Steve

It's about. From an operetta about, yeah, like rich people in the way that their lives work. And so the idea of juxtaposing that with these images of working class Philadelphia is really great choice both by John Landis and by the music supervisor on the film. Super awesome. I do.

Steve

I also wanted to say, like, on the question of whether this was a Christmas movie, because I was kind of like, is this a Christmas. You know, getting into it. There's a Christmas decoration in the first minute in that intro. So it's like, clearly we are establishing that it is Christmas time at the very least. And then I also was kind of like, noticing because, like you, I've seen this movie a ton of times.

Steve

And so watching through this time, I really wanted to, like, try to be more. Yeah, like, vigilant and like, look at things and really, like, understand stuff and kind of maybe like dig in just even mentally as I'm watching it more than usual. And one of the things I realized, like, this is a very similar opening to the film, to the secret of my success, except instead of Butt Rock, it's Mozart.

Nic

Right, Right. Which was the butt rock of his day.

Steve

So I think. So that's actually pretty accurate. It was very popular music at the time. So. Yeah.

Steve

So, yeah. So we've got this whole working class Philadelphia montage that happens. But it ends with us at the doorstep of one. The home of one Lewis Winthorpe and his sort of butler, valet, whatever, Coleman. And Coleman is making breakfast and getting it all ready.

Steve

And there's a lot of close up shots of like getting the sil. The literal silver platter he's being served on, like, set up. And then an opening that I really feel like John Landis deliberately references later in Coming to America is providing the breakfast in bed to the sleeping prince.

Nic

Right, Right.

Steve

Very much like Eddie Murphy is only woken up and Coming to America by a string quartet.

Steve

So it's a little more advanced, but, like, the vibe is the same.

Nic

He definitely elevates it in Coming to America, episode 12 for anyone that wants.

Steve

To check that out.

Nic

Great episode of 2001 movie.

Steve

Look at you being a curator of our stuff.

Nic

Look at me being prepared, having notes and stuff. Yeah. And one scene where Coleman, he's like. Of preparing the newspaper for him to read. And then it cuts to a homeless man who's like, you know, sleeping on the street covered in newspapers when Winthorpe walks out to the vehicle.

Nic

Because Winthorpe, you know, he's not like a kid, but he's probably 30. He's supposed to be. Right. And when he Walks out to his car. He just stands there with his briefcase, like, so indignantly, you know, impatiently waiting for Coleman to open the door for him.

Nic

It's just like, these little touches that they add to show what a dipshit this guy is are great.

Steve

He can't shave himself. He can't pick out his own suit to wear of a bunch of, like, very similar looking suits. Can't open his own car door. Like, you know, I know obviously the character believes that, that this is because he deserves to have these things done for him.

Steve

But, like, as a regular human being, not of abject wealth, I look at that and going, damn, dude, you can't. You can't shave. Yeah, like, I shave my head in the shower while I'm doing three other things. Like, you can't just, like, run a razor over your face. Like, what are.

Steve

Like, how incompetent are you?

Nic

You actually edit the podcast while you're.

Steve

Shaving in the shower. In the shower with the laptop.

Nic

It's really, really spending a fortune on equipment.

Steve

Really bad.

Nic

We need some waterproof stuff.

Steve

Four MacBook Airs in the last six months. It's really crazy anyway, but yeah, so he stands there by the car door until Coleman comes down and opens it for him. And I love.

Steve

There is like a Stanholm. Elliot is so good in this movie. There's this little moment he first steps out where he kind of takes a deep breath of fresh air and, like, gets his gloves on and he looks, like, happy for a moment. And then he, like, looks down and doesn't really change his visage too much, but there is a bit of a downtroddenness to like, oh, yeah, that's right. I have to help this guy, you know, so it's like he can still appreciate, like, a brisk winter morn, you know, but.

Steve

But he's got to help this fucking asshole.

Nic

And the best part of his day is before this asshole's awake and after.

Steve

He goes to work.

Nic

Right, right.

Steve

And.

Nic

And then. So we're taken to the Duke's mansion, who we learn are Randolph and Mortimer Duke. And their kind of morning routine is even crazier. You know, they come down this big, grand double staircase and they're handed their coats and they walk out front and they have a whole staff of people. Good morning, Mr. Duke.

Steve

Good morning.

Nic

And they're just acting, you know, annoyed that they have to be to. Because they don't say back to them.

Steve

No, it's an interesting juxtaposition. Right before we see the Dukes, Randolph and Mortimer, we actually See Winthorpe arrive at work, and so there's an interesting thing, if you notice.

Steve

So he will respond to the people saying, Good morning, Mr. Winthorpe. Good morning, Mr. WinthOrpe. But he doesn't look at anybody. So he is looking down the hall, he's walking towards the elevator, but as people walk by, go, Good morning, Ms. Winthor, he goes, good morning. Yes, good morning, good morning.

Steve

I mean, he doesn't sound too irritated, but he's obviously also not interacting and he's not looking at anyone. Yeah. And then when you see the Dukes, they not only don't look at their own household staff as they're saying, Good morning, Mr. Duke, whatever, they don't respond. Right. So we've moved from rich where Winthorpe exists to wealthy where the Dukes exist.

Nic

Yes.

Steve

And there is even more just pure derision for the working class at the Duke's level as there is for when from Winthorpe. Right. And it's like we're setting the scene of, like, these are not only rich and wealthy people, these are rich and wealthy. As if there could be any other kind.

Steve

When you get this wealthy, is there any other kind?

Nic

And they live in, like, a different world. Because in the Winthorpe scenes, it was being cut between, like, working class Philadelphia, his house, because his. His residence still exists kind of, you know, among people. And then the Dukes, it wasn't cutting back and forth because they're like in their own universe.

Steve

They look like they live on a ranch somewhere outside of town. It's enormous, like, country estate, you know, so.

Nic

So the Dukes, Randolph and Mortimer Duke, and then Winthorpe works for them. And they're commodities brokers, right? They're their money.

Nic

They're taking commissions on commodities trades. And that's, you know, that's what they do. They advise people on what to invest in and stuff. There's a scene. So I think they're first not arriving at the office, they're at the Heritage Club is what this place is.

Steve

Well, so they're in the car first and. Because what happened is Winthorpe, when he's getting shaved, he like, looks at the newspaper, he goes, I think something interesting is going to happen in pork bellies this morning, whatever. And so then when the Dukes are on their way to the Heritage Club, which of course it says, founded on the liberty and justice for all. And then members only. Yes.

Nic

Which is a great little bit really good.

Steve

On their way to the Heritage Club, the Dukes are looking at, like, a stock ticker, commodities ticker, with. Of pork bellies, among other things. And watching it Move. And like basically saying, you know, Mortimer says, played by Don Amici, he says, like, oh, we should sell now.

Steve

And Randolph, played by Ralph Bellamy, is like, no, no, no. Like Winthorpe said it would get to like 75, whatever the number was. And they're like arguing and then, you know, finally, you know, Ralph is like, Ralph Bellamy. I'm going to call him Ralph the whole time. Whatever.

Steve

Randolph is like, you know, let's wait, let's wait. So Randolph and Mortem are in the car, they sell when Winthorpe said they could sell. And Randolph even calculates, oh, he saved us this much money. They're super happy with him. Right.

Steve

My question was, why is market closing? It's the morning when they show up at the Heritage Club. The guy, you know, working the door opens and says, good morning, Mr. Duke. Yeah, what market closes that early? But I don't know that much about commodities markets, so maybe that's a normal thing, but it seemed odd to me.

Nic

I don't, I don't either. I remember. I don't know if you did too, but I think freshman year of high school economics.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

They showed us this movie.

Steve

Oh, interesting. Okay.

Nic

Yeah, so I remember watching this in school too. So extra points to it for being one of those that qualified to be watched in school. I think we missed the J. I.

Steve

Was going to say, I think with a few.

Nic

And the various others.

Steve

I mean, a few very important scenes and words throughout the movie cut out, obviously.

Nic

Yeah, yeah, so. So we kind of find out that like, Winthorpe is making them a bunch of money on these trades and stuff.

Nic

They get to their. The Heritage Club and they're both like sitting in the chair and being delivered like the most depressing looking, like milk. I'm sure it has some kind of capsule dissolved in it or some kind of bullshit. But by this butler who's just like, I can't stand these guys and they hand him $5 for his Christmas bonus.

Steve

From both of them?

Nic

Yeah, from both of them. And then he has a very funny line. He's like, oh, great, maybe I'll go to the movies by myself.

Steve

Thank you.

Nic

I like that.

Steve

Yes, he's great. Now, something that I again didn't notice necessarily the first 20 times I saw this movie, but definitely noticed this time. So I was looking for this kind. Did you notice that every single person that works at the Heritage Club, without fail and without exception, is black?

Nic

I was picked.

Steve

I didn't. Had never noticed that before, but.

Nic

And this time I started noticing later in the movie. Okay, well, that's good to confirm that. Yeah.

Nic

Because these certain intentional choices throughout this movie are.

Steve

It is supposed to be clear to us that not only because of their sort of interest in eugenics, which is what this whole thing is kind of based off of, you know, the Dukes are. Are abject, just total and to the core, racists. And their whole world is built around white supremacy and racism. And so to have this, you know, club that only members who clearly, by.

Steve

By at least what we're able to see are 100 white men work, you know, going somewhere where only black men work as servants, it's like, very deliberate choice by totally Landis and the other filmmakers. And so. But it was interesting because it was something I hadn't noticed before, and. And it kind of jumped out on the screen, out of the screen at me this time. It's like, oh, my God, look at that.

Steve

It's, you know, it looks like an old plantation house. Like, I'm assuming these guys are getting paid, but probably minimum wage. Right.

Nic

I mean, they're not treated. It's not a good job.

Steve

Absolutely not. Whatever. Yep.

Nic

But, you know, at the beginning, we see the homelessness, we see the alternative to not taking the shittiest job available to you. Yeah.

Nic

So John Landis was definitely showing some. And, you know, he has some racism to make up for later, so he's trying to build some goodwill up.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So, yeah. In the meantime, Winthorpe walks up, up to the Dukes, basically.

Nic

He's got a briefcase full of the payroll checks. I don't know why your CFO is like, getting signatures on the payroll checks. But then I was thinking, I've worked with people who are kind of like the Dukes, who might need their fingers and everything, and they might be like, nobody spends a penny without me signing it. Yeah, I definitely see that. Not setting a threshold, but modern day.

Nic

No, they're not looking at those payroll checks.

Steve

Well, these. Who. Nobody even gets paychecks anymore. Right.

Steve

I mean, direct deposit and whatever, you know, all that. But, yeah, these are. These are very big checks. I don't know if it's the stubs on them, but for sort of. They look like half a sheet of paper.

Steve

They're enormous for some reason, I'm not sure why, but they have to sign it. And I love. Mortimer's got a line about we seem to be paying some of our employees an awful lot of money. And Winthorpe's like, no getting around that. Minimum wage, Mortimer.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Oh, and it's like, who working in a.

Nic

Who.

Steve

Even the secretaries working at a commodities Broker are making minimum wage.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Maybe the janitors. Right, I can see that. But like, come on, these, you know, Winthorpe's not making minimum wage. Like, come on, like what?

Nic

It's ridiculous and we'll probably bring it up again, but Ackroyd's voice in this is just, it seems so, so natural that it's just like, oh, this is a guy with a funny voice.

Nic

Like the character he is doing is so incredibly good.

Steve

It's so perfect and it's so, you know, he's a Canadian man who, you know, who. Who grew up not rich but. But the way he takes on the affect of a clearly like, you know, Connecticut born and educated, you know, Harvard, whatever, kind of all the upper crustiness you could possibly be and takes that voice on and does just a perfect job without it being overacting or over the top. You know, it's not like in a movie, like Clueless.

Steve

The whole Valley girl thing is meant to be over the top. It's like, you know, it's part of the character and part of the thing. This needed to be realistic. Like this needed to be believable. And he nails it.

Steve

Absolutely nails it. And it even. It's great too because we get to see the transition of it throughout the movie and by the end of the movie he, he doesn't have the same affectations to his voice that he does early on and, and I think. But yeah, at this point it is full, like, like very hoity toity. It is whatever and it's perfection.

Nic

It's. Yeah, it's really incredible. You can tell that Aykroyd had guys in his real life like that.

Steve

Right.

Nic

That he couldn't stand.

Nic

Like that only comes from a place of like, all right, I'm a very skilled impressionist, but also I know these people and these are the mannerisms that are important to like capture who that is.

Steve

Well earned disdain. Y.

Nic

Really good. So one of the checks that he questions is like, there's a $50,000 check to a guy named Clarence Beaks.

Nic

I've never heard of a guy named Clarence speaks. And they kind of, oh, well, don't worry about that. We'll take care of it.

Steve

Yeah, they hand wave it away.

Nic

So, yeah.

Nic

And now Randolph and Mortimer are continuing this discussion they were having about, you know, this article in Science Weekly or whatever the fuck he was reading. And it was about, you know, environment versus genetics and stuff. And they're having the nature versus nurture debate. They don't say nature versus Nurture. I notice that that Would have made it cleaner, but I think that's how like, poor people would talk about it, you know.

Nic

Okay, that makes sense.

Steve

No, that. That tracks. That tracks. Very true.

Steve

Yeah. So they're. They're having this conversation, but when. Yeah, so they say, like, you know, someone, like, we're very lucky. I think it's.

Steve

Randolph says, we're very lucky to have Winthorpe running our. Our. Our brokerage or whatever, running our firm. And. And Mortimer's like, ah, it's ridiculous.

Steve

He went to Exeter, he went to Harvard. Like, it's all, you know, it's like, Like, I think he says it's like in racehorses. It's in the blood, you know, whole thing. And they're arguing about whether it's like. And, you know, he says, no, you could put, you know, Winthorpe anywhere.

Steve

Mortimer says, you could put Winthorpe anywhere and he'd succeed. And this is when Randolph comes up the idea of, like, what if he. What if he'd lost, you know, not just his job, but his fiance and his home, all of his friends, and he was, you know, humiliated and thrown in jail, like. And he says, I think he would take. I think Winthorpe would take to crime like a duck to water or fish to water, whatever, he says.

Steve

And so they agree. I think we might be skipping ahead a little bit, but, like, they agree to that. But before all that happens, we are introduced to Billy Ray Valentine outside of the Heritage Club. We get a quick Billy Ray Valentine's. We see.

Steve

So this is Eddie Murphy's character. He is pretending to be a legless Vietnam veteran. Legless and blind, I think. Vietnam veteran, yeah. And he asks for money was when the Dukes first show up, actually.

Steve

We see him and he asks Mortimer for money, and I have no money for you. Whatever. And he rolls off into the park and there's a couple of cops kind of like watching him arrive. He hasn't seen them yet. He makes a comment about to a lady who walks by, makes it clear he can see.

Steve

So the cops roll up to him and it's kind of like they stop his little cart and they go, hey, we've been hearing a lot, you know, about somebody, con men pretending to be crippled and blind or whatever. And they lift him up off the carton.

Nic

Of sure.

Steve

Of course, he has his legs and so he puts his feet down. I love the whole.

Steve

Before he even references the legs, he's like, I can see. I can see. It's a miracle I can see, you know, and he goes crazy. Basically. He, like, walks away from the cops, and is like, oh, you guys, it's a miracle.

Steve

I'm okay now, whatever. And that's when he bumps into Winthorpe, right?

Nic

And there's a great chase scene there because basically he bumps into Winthorpe, Winthorpe drops the briefcase that had all the payroll checks in it, and Valentine picks it up. He's like, here you go. And Winthorpe is another very funny trait about how terrified he is, right?

Nic

He just goes, help, help. You know, and he's like, take it. Take my briefcase. And he's like, I'm trying to hand it back to you. But he's just so terrified to even interact with a person of this, like, strata of society.

Steve

He says, please don't kill me, I'm getting married. I love that for some reason. So there's a chase. The cops and a couple other cops. Everybody kind of coalesces on the Heritage Club, and they're chasing Valentine through who still has the briefcase for a while because Winthorpe wouldn't take it back from him.

Steve

Running around with. So he does look like he's trying. Trying to take the briefcase in that sense. Ends up kind of tossing it aside at one point, throwing it to somebody. Ends up underneath the table, which I love.

Steve

Winthorpe is then going, there he is, get him. He's under the table. There he is. Don't let him away. Go get him.

Steve

And he's like, there's like the 30 cops, right? Like, as if nobody can tell, or nobody. Not everybody knows he's under there, right? So he sneaks out, you know, the classic shot of Eddie Murphy and seven police, you know, pistols. Point his face, you know, is there a problem?

Steve

Offices, like. But, you know, they basically say, like, I was, you know, he says, like, I wasn't trying to steal anything. This guy bumped into me. And. And Ackroyd's like, well, that's ridiculous.

Steve

I want to press full charges. You tried to steal this whatever. No, I didn't. You know, just kind of arguing and. And that's when.

Steve

That's when Randolph is like, you know, you're from a broken home, I suppose, you know. Yeah, we were broke. So what? You know. But trying to, like, suss out what kind of environment you're the kind of.

Nic

Guy we're looking for to compare to Flip Flop.

Steve

Yeah. And at which point he says, man, I answering this guy's questions, I need a lawyer. Is there a lawyer in the house? And all the.

Steve

You got to figure 80% of the dudes in there are. Probably have law degrees, right? Like, and they're all just like, nobody will help.

Nic

Yeah, that was a great. That was a great exchange there.

Steve

Oh, man.

Nic

Yeah. So basically they say some racist things about, about Valentine when he's taken away. They say he's been stealing since he can crawl. Basically, like this is what he was born to do.

Nic

And. And they decide we're gonna make a bet here.

Steve

Yep.

Nic

You know, can we basically turn Winthorpe into Valentine if we give him that. Those surroundings, learnings and vice versa.

Steve

Right, exactly. And it's like, you know, there is something interesting about the concept of nature and nurture of environment versus genetics. Like, there are interesting things about that, but not in this way. Right. Like, it's like, it's like way to take, like a potentially interesting thought process or thought experiment and turning it into a horrific, you know, eugenic kind of like, experiment that's going to ruin two people's lives.

Steve

Like, they couldn't possibly take this even any worse direction. Basically.

Nic

Yeah, yeah.

Steve

They're basically Eric And Don Trump Jr. Like, in the future.

Nic

And it is funny.

Nic

It's like, well, you're sitting on a pile of probably inherited wealth right here, being like, oh, well, you know, was it my hard work? Come on, man.

Steve

What is it like being born on third and thinking you're the triple? Right.

Nic

Like, but, you know, you got to play with the pores if you're going to entertain yourself.

Nic

I think that's the, the lesson here. Lewis is back home.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

And he's there with Penelope, his girlfriend is very pretty fiance. And they're enjoying like, the most ridiculously fancy dinner ever.

Nic

Coleman is preparing things for him. Coleman gets a phone call at some point.

Steve

Well, yeah, so Coleman is making a dessert, basically, and I don't know what it is.

Nic

Crepe suzette.

Steve

Is that what it is?

Steve

Okay, cool. Crepe suzette. And Penelope is super impressed with the, you know, the action that Winthorpe went through today. And she kind of leans over and goes, I want you, Louis now. You know, and so he's like, colman, take the dessert.

Steve

You can have it. He just dumps it out.

Nic

I love that it cuts that hard cut of like, oh, I'm doing you such a favor by saying, you can have my dessert. And then Coleman just being like, this is your. This crap.

Steve

Yeah. And then that's when he gets the phone call. We don't hear the other side of the call, but it clearly from the Dukes and. Because he basically says, well, you know, it is your house. I work for you, sir.

Steve

I'll make the necessary arrangement. So they're setting up what's going to happen. He excuses himself. Penelope and. And Lewis are in mid undress as Coleman says good night.

Steve

Basically, we cut then to the drug, basically the holding tank or the holding cell, and at, you know, whatever. Whatever city jail Valentine was taken to. And he is talking to about. There's about three guys next to him, and he's saying stuff about how, like, you know, he was fighting, whatever, and he cut. I didn't cut the guy with no knife.

Steve

I cut him with these. And he's like, showing his hands, like my karate man, like, whatever. All this stuff. Beat up all five, six. Wasn't no cop, man.

Steve

It was cops.

Nic

Cops, plural. Yeah, I love that.

Steve

One thing I noticed this time, again, I noticed this before. One of the three men, the one standing by the.

Steve

Against the cell, Giancarlo Esposito.

Nic

That's right.

Steve

Gus Spring from Breaking Bad. I was like, holy crap. It's like he's like sixth or seventh credit total, obviously, long before he was in do the Right Thing, which was kind of the first thing I remember Giancarlo Esposito from.

Steve

But yeah, like, that's. That's him. Yeah.

Nic

That was cool. It was cool spotting in there.

Nic

Yeah. And the. The karate thing, the Eddie Murphy line where he says, like, they're like, well. And then the two. There's.

Nic

So he's bragging to these other guys, and there's two big guys who are like, hey, you're talking all this shit. Why didn't this happen? Then there's one guy who just goes, yeah, yeah. And. And he's like, well, I'm a karate man.

Nic

And we bruise on the inside. I love that line there. So they've had enough of his shit, right? They're like. They don't want to hear him run his mouth anymore.

Nic

And they pick him up. He's like, what are you doing?

Steve

What are you doing? You trying to mess with me?

Nic

Me, who's sitting here in cell number 12 on the fifth floor, and he's like screaming for the security.

Nic

Good Eddie Murphy stuff. I mean, that was just like, okay, this is why this guy's a star.

Steve

And luckily for him, he's been bailed out. So the guard, played by the same actor who played Jim Walsh, the dad on 90210, comes over and is basically like, valentine, you made bail you out here? And he goes, I did.

Steve

Like, he's totally shocked, right? Because he was talking about how he. The car, the phone in his limo Is busted. So he can't get a hold of his because he told everybody's a pimp. Right.

Steve

But sure enough, he's been let out. He walks out the front steps of the police station, whatever. Makes a funny crack about, like, you know, the couple officers are wrestling with a guy that's trying to get sighting. May I suggest you use your nightstick, officer?

Nic

I love that.

Steve

Yeah. And who rolls up but the Dukes? And they're not, I guess, no surprise a black man is their driver. So. Okay.

Steve

But that's who rolls up in the car, and they basically tell him, like, hey, come on in. We want to talk to you. We've got whiskey. We've got.

Nic

You know, the way he shakes the whiskey and says, it's like, that's how I try to lure my cat into.

Steve

The garage with treats.

Nic

Yeah. But it's really, really funny.

Steve

Yeah. So he doesn't want to get in, but he does end up agreeing because they're just like, hey, like, we bailed you out, so you should at least come listen to us.

Steve

To one of the things that they say. They tell him that they are. That they use or they're part of a program that, using private funds, tries to help, and I quote, culturally disadvantaged people, which is like, one of the most deeply racist things in this movie. That, again, is. Is racist in the way Blazing Saddles is racist.

Steve

It is satire. It is making fun of the racists in the movie. But to do that, it has to show us just how racist these people are. And, oh, my God, using the words culturally disadvantaged was like, Yeah. I don't know how else to put it.

Steve

That was hope. That was pretty. Pretty awful. But, yeah. But, yeah, that's where they're at, you know?

Nic

You know, it's fun at some point, talking about, like, needing to be racist to show racism. My daughter watched this movie and she was like, if an actor has to say the N word, do they are they still. Can they still be a good person?

Steve

Right, Right.

Nic

And I was, you know, trying to explain her.

Nic

I was like, yeah. I mean, but it's hard for people to say certain things. And like, a lot of times you kind of break down, like, especially if you have to be, like, a really terrible person as a character.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

But it was interesting coming from a kid's perspective, like, yeah, how does that even work?

Steve

You know?

Nic

But then I guess, you know, you're respons responsibility as a performer to know what you're in and know what the message of the. You know, are. You just saying it because they just want something.

Steve

Right, right.

Nic

There's. There's reasons for it to be part of the story anyway. A little diversion. But I think it's important for, you know, kids to, like, think about stuff.

Steve

Absolutely.

Nic

And I was actually, like, really impressed for her to ask me that.

Steve

That's good stuff.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So.

Nic

So they basically are offering Buddy Valentine, they're like, you know, cigars.

Nic

And he grabs, like, the most cigars, and he's like, clutching it to his chest, and they're like, we're going to give you a job. $80,000 a year, which. 1982. Holy moly. Right.

Steve

About a quarter million by the calculation I saw.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Today's dollars. Yeah.

Nic

And so very funny.

Nic

He, like, leans forward to the driver, which is, you know, what you have to do? You're like, okay, this is the only other black person. This is the only other, like, working class person here. I lean up. It's like these guys.

Nic

For real?

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And the guy just kind of like shakes his head and nods at everything he says. And then before he leans back, he's like, like, thanks, it was very helpful.

Steve

Yeah.

Steve

Because he asked him, like, what's my move, man? And the guy just shrugs like, yeah, okay, great, thank you. Like, but he asks him if they're gay because he's. He's thinking, are they gonna. Are they trying to hit on me or whatever?

Steve

The guy's like, no, they're not. He's like, okay, all right. But, yeah, so they get him to. Well, to Winthorp's house. Not.

Steve

Not that Valentine knows it's Winthorpe's house, but that's where we end up, because Winthorpe is at work.

Nic

Right.

Steve

And so. So we get there and he gets like a. A tub, you know, like a bath or whatever, with.

Steve

With a Jacuzzi. He doesn't know what jacuzzi is called. And. And Coleman's like, I think you'll like it. So.

Steve

And sure, he. Enough. He's like, hey, this is great, Bubbles. We went to Jacuzzi. We had to fart in the tub when I was growing up.

Steve

Yeah. And they get him, you know, dressed in the outfit and everything, and they start to try to explain to him.

Nic

Like, oh, the tub real quick. Oh, yeah, yeah, the bathroom.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Two things that absolutely gave me the damn creeps. Oh, black toilet. Oh, that. That was like an 80s thing that I was always like, I don't know. For some reason it doesn't mean that things don't show up on it.

Nic

It's like. It's like A black car. Like, it shows dirt much easier. And then carpet throughout the. So you have this splish splash.

Nic

I was taking a bath. Jacuzzi tub right in the middle of the bathroom. And then carpet. And then the toy. It's like, look, I know carpet's luxurious.

Nic

It feels good on your feet, but that shit's gonna get wet every single day. That's disgusting. Yeah, so that was. It was funny looking at these old, like, fancy residences, and there's certain things we're like, whoa, that was, like, top of the line back then.

Steve

This is a terrible idea.

Steve

Everybody needed it. It was the best height of luxury.

Nic

Right? So. So Billy Ray, he's, like, getting cleaned up.

Nic

He's getting in his, you know, in his clothes and everything, and they're kind of showing him around the place. And he still doesn't buy it.

Steve

No, no. He. He thinks it's either a setup or.

Steve

Or they're just going to say, just kidding and. And whatever. Or he's going to leave. Like, he doesn't really get it yet. Yeah.

Nic

So as. Very funny scene where he's kind of trying to, like, get them to look in another direction, and he's stealing little, like, knickknacks from around the place every. Oh, what's. Look at those curtains over there. He's putting stuff in his pockets and they're like, you don't understand.

Nic

This is your stuff. You're only stealing from yourself.

Steve

Right, right.

Nic

And then he's like. Starts playing around with a vase.

Nic

He's like, okay, well, if I just, like, play around, start doing Harlem Globetrotter.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

And he breaks it. And then they say, well, you know that we paid 35 grand for that, but we hadn't insured for 50 grand. You're already making us money through insurance fraud.

Steve

Yeah, of course, is the funny part. But, yes, that's.

Nic

That's just business to these guys.

Steve

Exactly. Right.

Steve

So he asks him, you want me to break something else? And all three of them, including Denhel, Mel, it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Nic

I do. I like those random things in this movie where everyone's on the same page.

Steve

Kind of cartoonish, almost like.

Nic

So.

Steve

Yeah. So then. So now we're cutting to back to the. No, back to the Heritage Club.

Steve

And Winthorpe is arriving. It seems like everybody in the club, like, gets together at some point during the day. And Beaks. Clarence Beaks, who we haven't met yet, we've heard of. Right.

Steve

He is there, and he gets a signal from the Dukes about which man, is. Is. Is Winthrop Thorpe. And he goes. They go into this big meeting room and Beaks kind of bumps into Winthorpe and, oh, excuse me, but you can see he kind of grabs, like, near his.

Steve

His jacket pocket. And what we find out is, okay, you know, the person says, like, the whoever, this headmaster guy, whatever, this, like, head of the group is like, oh, there's something rotten in the Heritage Club. There's been thievery for the first time in the 100 and whatever, you know, and it's an enormous room that has almost nothing in it. Like the amount of empty carpet, like between the deus and like the main table where apparently some classification of. Of member can sit.

Steve

And then along the wall are just chairs with a table is some other lower, I assuming, classification of member. And Winthorpe and his buddies, Todd and a few of the guys I think we've met already, you know, we skipped it, but, like, you know, looking good. You're looking good, Todd. Or feeling. Or looking good, Louis.

Steve

Feeling good, Todd.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Thing. They're all sitting at the big table, so they're like, special, I guess, But Beaks is this guy. They introduce him as the head of, what, Windhurst Security, Lyndhurst Security, whatever.

Steve

And he says, we put, you know, we marked $50 bills with red X's, and we put them in a coat in the cloak room. And just a minute ago, they were stolen. One of our operatives witnessed the theft, so. And he has them all, like, put a hand up on the shoulder of the guy next to you and then reach into the other guy's pockets, right. Empty his pockets out, something like that.

Steve

Right. And sure enough, in front of Winthorpe is this little folded up, like, three $50 bills with red X's on the side. And he's like, I've never seen this before. I don't know what this is. This is a setup, like, whatever, which is like, yeah, dude, like, he would be shocked about it.

Steve

Right, right. But, like, they literally take him away. And, you know, a couple security guards who I'm assuming work for Lyndhurst Security because they're white, so they don't work at the Heritage.

Nic

Right, right.

Steve

Take him away, basically.

Steve

And everybody's like, I, you know, even Randolph sits at me like, I'm glad your parents are not alive to see this.

Nic

It's crazy brutal, dude, for something that's like 150, you know, but, you know, this is how much they crack down on. On petty criminals and everything. One other thing about the room that they're in is the entire wall is filled with these portrait paintings of these, like, you know, white dudes, former members, whatever. But it's really funny because it's like that style of portrait painting where from a distance, they all look the same.

Nic

Like, the color scheme, everything is. Is very similar. So it just seemed like the most boring, like.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

Stuffy room possible.

Steve

Everything is monochromatic in every possible way, for sure.

Nic

A lot of Zorn palette up in there.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

Yeah. So Winthorpe is taken away, and he's basically getting.

Nic

Now at the police station, they're going through his stuff and he is indignant. He's Karen and out, Right. He's like. At one point, he says to the cops, he's like, you are making a career decision. I love threatening somebody to get fired like that.

Nic

That's really.

Steve

Yeah, that's bold. Before we get to him there, we do have beaks again. Show up and talk. Whisper in the ear of a cop played by Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda.

Steve

And so he. Kermit the Frog. Kermit, that's right. And. And he whispers to him.

Steve

And so this is. This is kind of informing what's about to happen. Clearly, he's like, bribing the cop to frame Winthorpe. Right. So they initially tell Winthorpe, you know, strip down.

Steve

You know, strip out of your clothes, like, whatever. He's like, I'm not gonna do that. That's crazy. I get phone calls or whatever, and the big. This big black cop gets up and goes, strip you little before I tear you a new.

Steve

And he just freaks out. This man is threatening me. I have witnesses. Like, he doesn't get it. That, like, this is not.

Steve

Not the position you're in. And so they. They go through his jacket and. And, you know, it's like he's got, like, gold watch. He's got, like, you know, wallet with credit cards.

Steve

And they list off every possible credit card at the time. You know, two tickets to the Boheme. It's La Boheme. It's an opera and opera. Opera.

Steve

And then one cellophane bag, and he's like, you know, puts. It's got a white powder in it. I've never seen that before. He puts, y. This is angel dust.

Steve

Pcp. You ever see what this stuff does to kids? And it's like, who would see, like, what? What? Like what?

Steve

But they basically are framing him for being a PCP dealer. Yeah. And he gets held. Held in jail then.

Nic

And that's a great scene, just seeing him crumble, like, as a guy who's never really had to deal with his own consequence in his life.

Nic

There's always been someone to call to bail him out.

Steve

Right.

Nic

There's no more Winston Wolf's left. He. He has to deal with it.

Steve

So to be fair, we also don't have any indication that Winthorpe's ever done anything that would require a Winston Wolf, like, you know what I mean? Like that's. It seems like he has been a boy.

Nic

He's probably been a rule followers.

Steve

He's a dick and he's rude to people and he's entitled and, and, and smarmy and shitty, but we don't get any indication that he's done anything illegal his entire life.

Steve

Potentially. Yeah.

Nic

And I do love Frank Oz. I mean, in, in the other John Landis, one of the great John Landis movies, the Blues Brothers, Frank Oz in a similar role. He's the guy checking Jake Blues out of the prison and giving the inventory of all of his stuff.

Nic

So it's funny that he's like Yoda, Kermit the Frog and the guy who, like, hands Jake Blues a used condom, you know, know. And who pulls angel dust out of.

Steve

Dan Aykroyd's jacket and then catches Chevy Chase cheating on a government exam. In Spies Like Us, he's the administrator of this exam and he ends up seeing him cheating and he presses a button under the desk and all these cameras come down and start aiming at Chase. It's a great movie.

Steve

We'll have to get to that one too. Anyway, Frank Oz is fantastic.

Nic

So, so he's, you know, Winthorpe is screwed. And then I think this scene, this sequence is probably my favorite in the movie where Billy Ray, now he's out, it's like his first day of being a rich guy. He's like, fuck it, whatever's gonna happen, I have cash, I have a limo, I have nice clothes.

Steve

Let's do it.

Nic

I'm going out to the bar. And he goes to kind of like the same shitty bar that he would normally go to.

Steve

Absolutely right. He's not going to a club downtown with Richie's.

Steve

He's going back to the bar in his neighborhood where he knows people. But he walks up to the bartender and the bartender's like, you got a lot of nerve showing up after all this time. And he's got money for him, so he even says, I'm your lousy, measly money. Here you go, whatever, Champagne for everybody. Like, whatever.

Steve

But who's there? In addition to all the women now flocking him. Yeah, the Two big guys from the holding cell the night before are there and they come up and are kind of like in his face, you know.

Nic

He told us you had a limousine.

Steve

And I just love the result.

Steve

Hey, you're the motherfucker I saw in the tank last night. And he goes, motherfucker, moi? And it's just. I love that. So good.

Steve

But basically, like you bragging on your limousine. He's like, oh, that happens. Me in my limousine outside. And sure enough, there's Cole. The guys go check.

Steve

And there's Coleman, like, you know, tipping his hat, just kind of waiting, whatever. Very funny scene. And he decides, hey, let's bring everybody back to my place, have a party.

Nic

I got a limo, let's do it.

Steve

Absolutely.

Nic

And then it's just, you know, kind of a wild, like, John Hughes house party style party. You know, everyone's dancing around and it seems like a great time. I think there's probably some professionals in the crowd. Seems like, you know, maybe there's some pimps and some of their prostitutes around there, but they're all, all, you know, laughing it up and having fun. Coleman is cruising around with a tray of horse.

Nic

And you get these like. He doesn't say anything, but you get a little sense of Coleman. Like, you don't become a butler from being like an aristocratic, like, British dude, Right. He's some kind of working class. These are way more his people.

Nic

He's probably like, this party actually seems fun. All of Winthorpe's parties suck. You know, it was the Zedekai singing guy. Like all those Todd and the guys. Yeah.

Nic

So you get like some little cues from Coleman that I really enjoy doing this sequence.

Steve

Yeah. Denholm Elliott's performance in this has got a lot of nuance and a lot of like, you know. So, yeah, so it's fantastic. So, yeah, there's some great lines in it.

Steve

You know, who's been putting out the cools on my floor? You know, he's like. And whatever. And finally, you know, Coleman says, oh, I think somebody retired upstairs, went upstairs, whatever. And he goes up and there's a topless woman in his bed.

Steve

Been waiting for you, Billy Rabe. It's like he's done with it. He's like, everybody get out. You know, he tries to get all their attention, right? He's like, can I get your attention?

Nic

Can I get your attention? There's a girl right before that. So he goes up and he sees the topless woman in the bedroom. And there's during that scene, the woman who's like, like flat, like pulling her top off and dancing and like doing this extended dance sequence. Really good.

Nic

I mean, hey, great early 80s style.

Steve

I wrote so much casual toplessness, pure 80s. Like this really is pure 80s. But finally Billy Ray has to tell everybody to get the fuck out. Like, get out of my house.

Steve

And there's another kind of sweet moment then between Coleman and Valentine where, you know, Valentine, you know, Coleman says, oh, your friends seem to really enjoy the party. Goes, those were my friends, man. Those are freeloaders. You know, they treated my house like a zoo. And Coleman's like, you know, why don't you retire upstairs?

Steve

Like, I'll take care of this. And Valentine says, yeah, it's a good idea. I think I will retire. Thank you, Coleman. And there's a reaction from Coleman when he gets a thank you.

Steve

Like nobody, dude, nobody has ever think.

Nic

I mean that's the thing, like watching this movie, you just know that the truth is nobody has ever acknowledged Coleman as anything other than like, here's your $5 Christmas, right?

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So, yeah, yeah, Very, very good. I'm glad you brought that up.

Nic

So now we're back to Winthorpe, okay? And Winthorpe is being bailed out of jail. So his name is called there and he's got a black guy, he's wearing different clothes, he's wearing like these, you know, ratty looking clothes. And Penelope in the waiting room is, she's really good. That whole scene is super funny.

Nic

So Penelope, proper Penelope is among, among genpung up, right? Which probably never happens to her. So she's sitting on a bench, she has one guy like picking his toes next to her. And then this lady kind of like falling asleep on the other side with no room anywhere. And then the like most like fire plug, like thickest dude I've ever seen, shoves the sleeping lady aside and sits right down next to her.

Nic

This kind of like big barrel chested, polish looking dude. And he just looks at her, he's like, like, is that your purse?

Steve

It's a nice purse.

Nic

That's a nice purse.

Steve

Before that.

Steve

I love it though. The guy is picking his toes or whatever. She, she's got like banaka in her purse and she sprays him with the banaka, which is so classic. Cuz like I remember having banaka like in high school, the 90s. Like I thought I was cool because I would like have been, I don't know why, like it was a thing a little while that people would use banaka as like a breath spray.

Steve

But like I would never like you can't spray it on someone. It's just that little part of them that, where the Banaka hits will smell better. But it's not like, like, it's not Febreze.

Nic

No. At best you could use Banaka as, like a low level pepper spray.

Steve

Oh, my God.

Nic

Yeah, that. That's really funny. So he comes out and Winthorpe comes out. Oh, Penelope, thank you so much.

Nic

Oh, it's been terrible. And he goes to hug her and she's just, like, embarrassed by him.

Steve

She's mortified.

Nic

She's like. He's like, do you understand where I've been?

Steve

I love this man tried to have sex with me.

Nic

I love bean in, like, anytime anyone leans into a bean, that always gets me. Yeah. So he's. Penelope, reluctantly, is like, I'm gonna get you out of here. You've embarrassed me.

Nic

This is ridiculous. And as they're walking out on the steps, the Jamie Lee Curtis character, who was just pulled aside by Clarence Beaks, is, you know, bribing and stirring the pot everywhere, runs out up to Lewis and kisses him like, oh, Louie, Louie, let me get a shot, let me get a hit. You know, I'm not a drug dealer. I've not. He's just finishing telling Penelope, I've never been a drug dealer.

Nic

And then she comes up and is all over him and Penelope storms off, right?

Steve

And that ruins it. And, and, and from the first moment we see her, obviously jam Lee Curtis looks great in this movie. She's gorgeous. You know, basically, Winthorpe is like, why did you do that?

Steve

And she's like, oh, your friend told me to get you off. He said you. The friend was funny. Look at that guy over there. And of course, Beaks now has walked away.

Steve

He's not there. So Winkthorpe's totally. I don't understand. Basically they agree, or she agrees to, like, pay for a cab for him to get him home for 20 bucks or whatever. And then he'll.

Steve

He said, I'll give you 50 when I get there. It's like my butler, I've got cash in the house. Like, all this, whatever. Well, he. They get to his house and he knocks on the door because his key's not working.

Steve

He says, coleman, my key doesn't seem to work. And literally, like, there's no Coleman here. You have the wrong house. The coldest, really the coldest response possible. Like.

Steve

And then eventually, you know, he knocks, bangs on the door again. Call Bella or whatever. It's like you. If you don't leave, I'll be forced to Call the police, you know, and like. And that's it.

Steve

So he's just like, fuck, what do I do now? And.

Nic

And it's kind of crazy that. That Winthorpe, like, he's so ingrained in this world that he doesn't even fight this stuff too hard because he's just kind of like, oh, okay, I am a piece of shit. And this is what we do to people like that, you know, like, this is what I would do to somebody in this situation.

Nic

So he doesn't seem as much like what is happening. Something's going to be wrong. He's just like, damn it.

Steve

Right? But then.

Steve

Then the. The sort of final nail in the coffin is struck when he tries to go to the bank to withdraw, he says $1,000 so he can give Ophelia what he owes her and then. And then have some cash to, like, whatever. Do whatever he needs to do. And of course, you know, the IRS has frozen your assets, there's an investigation going on, embezzlement, like, all this, you know, Duke.

Steve

And Duke and Duke are pressing charges. And I need to see your credit cards. And the bank manager takes his credit cards and like, shreds them or whatever. So he's got nothing. He's got no credit, he's got no cash, he's got no anything.

Steve

And he's finally. And then finally gets thrown out by one of the security guards. And Ophelia's getting in the cabin is like, I gotta go. Like, I can't deal with you. And he, like, basically begs her to help her to help him.

Steve

And, you know, kind of for no good reason other than she is a good person, she agrees. She agrees to help him.

Nic

Yeah, she's way too nice. I mean, throughout this whole thing, it's like, oh, my God, she is.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

Just wait. I mean, there has to be that character. Character in the movie, right?

Steve

Yeah, yeah, no, there's.

Nic

The moral center of the movie is the prostitute.

Steve

Right. This is just yet another piece of the satire. Right. Is that the. The sex worker, the sort of bottom of the barrel of society, is the kindest, gentlest, and frankly, most responsible with money person in the entire movie.

Steve

Really? Yeah, as we later find out. But yeah. So. So we cut, I think after they.

Steve

After Ophelia agrees to help Louis and they. And they, you know, get in the cab together. We cut now to back to Valentine. He's gonna have his first day at work. Yeah.

Steve

At Duke.

Nic

And Duke, they actually had spotted each other.

Steve

Oh, that's right.

Nic

And Lewis were in the cab Driving away. Valentine was in the cab with.

Nic

With Coleman. He's like, hey, I think that that's the guy.

Steve

Dude that got me busted.

Nic

Yeah, that's the guy that busted me. And they're kind of pointing at each other.

Nic

Driving away.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Now we have Valentine's first day of work, right?

Steve

And he asks Coleman, he's like, what do they want from me? What do I do?

Steve

He's like, just be yourself, sir. No matter what happens, they can't take that from you. And, like, Valentine gives him a look like, what are you talking about? So it's an interesting. You know, Coleman is also trying to be.

Steve

I mean, he's doing what he has to do because his employers are demanding it of him, but he's trying to be the Jiminy Cricket of the story and try to lead people in reasonable ways for the most part. But so, basically, Valentine gets there and you'll notice when people are saying hello to him. Hello, Mr. Valentine, good morning. He's saying, good morning. Hello.

Steve

And, like, looking at people, he's like, engaging eye contact. Right. It's very interesting. He gets up to the sort of this main office. It's not Winthorpe's office, it must be the Duke's brother, is their office.

Steve

Because they have, I noticed, autographed black and white photos of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Yep, yep. Because of course they do.

Nic

In almost every scene that it shows them, like, the. The photos change position so that they're prominent.

Steve

Yes, 100%. But they've got laid out a bunch of, like, plates of, you know, like, I think it's like, an orange and, like a piece of bacon and, like, coffee and, like, gold, like, whatever they're telling, like, what commodities are. And I love when. When Randolph gets to the bacon or the pork bellies, which make bacon, which you might find in a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, at which point Eddie Murphy, like, breaks the fourth wall, looking at us, the audience, like, the fuck does this guy think? I know what fucking BLT is like?

Steve

You know what I mean?

Nic

Such a great decision, because you can't. You can't do that really, more than once in a movie to have it. Have that kind of effect. And it's so funny there.

Steve

Yes, yes.

Nic

Yeah. So they're kind of explaining and they say, well, the best part of it is, no matter what happens, if it goes up or goes down, we make money. And. And Eddie Murphy's like, oh, oh, you're the couple of bookies then, you know.

Steve

Just like I told you, Mortimer, he'd Understand, like, they know that's what they are.

Steve

And then I think now we're back. Back to a few. Ophelia and Louis have arrived at Ophelia's apartment, basically, which is in a bad part of town. She says hi to a couple of, like, homeless guys on the street because she knows them based they're her neighbors, even though they seem to live on the street based on standing by a burning trash can fire. I assume those are homeless folks.

Steve

You know, he's like, do you know those people? She's like, yeah, dude. Like, this is the neighborhood. Like, welcome, you know, kind of thing. And, you know, she basically.

Steve

He tries to argue about, like. Or complain about all this stuff, and she's like, look, I don't care about any of that.

Nic

Like.

Steve

Like, you claim that this is real. I. I'm gonna believe you because I'm gonna help you get back on your feet, and you're gonna pay me five figures in cash.

Steve

Not negotiable. That's the deal. And he's like, okay, yeah, sure, you know, and she mentions, like, she's got, like, 40 grand saved up. You know, she's got three more years on her back and she should be able to retire. And he's like, you're a prostitute.

Steve

And it's like, bro, it was really.

Nic

Funny, too, because it says a lot about the Winthorpe character. She gives him in that sequence, so much information, and the only thing he reacts to is. Is you're a prostitute.

Steve

Bingo.

Steve

Bingo. That's all that matters in his world. Yeah. And his view of people. This is, of course, also the first time we get a shot of Jamie Lee Curtis's body, which is fantastic.

Steve

But she tells him, hey, in this place, rent and food are not the only things that cost money. You'll sleep on the couch. Because I think he was thinking.

Nic

He was like, cool, I'll take the image of your titties that I just saw and take it to the couch. I'm good for weeks.

Steve

Yeah. So. But they make their deal. He agrees, and that they're kind of set, right? That that's what they're gonna do.

Steve

She's gonna help him, and he's gonna pay her, and they'll make it all good. And he's lucky as hell, basically, that he run in, like, Clarence Peaks could not have done him a bigger favor than introducing Ophelia to the picture and getting Penelope out of the way. Seriously, that's like, absolutely the best possible thing could happen to Louis at this point.

Nic

He could have paid a dude to walk up to him outside the jail and be like, hey, man, you owe me money from those drugs.

Steve

You could have done all kinds of stuff that would have.

Nic

Whatever. So I. I think now we're back with Valentine and the Dukes, briefly. And Valentine's kind of leaving this meeting, and he knows. Notices a money clip on the phone.

Steve

Oh, well, real quick, though, we gotta talk about eating.

Steve

Because he. They're talking about the price of pork bellies again. Oh, yeah. And it's like, it's gonna go down, whatever. And he says something just about like, I don't think that's a good idea.

Steve

Valentine does. And they're like, why would you. Why shouldn't we sell now? He's like, well, because it's gonna keep going lower. Why do you think that's gonna.

Steve

And he's basically like, all the guys with the pork belly, you know, contracts. They're starting to get nervous. It's near Christmas. I'm not gonna have enough money to buy my kid the GI Joe, the Kung Fu grip. And my wife's not gonna want to.

Steve

My wife's not gonna make love to me because I ain't got no cash. I love how he correct is. A couple times he corrects his language.

Nic

Yeah, it's fantastic.

Steve

And sure enough, the price keeps dropping.

Steve

Although they do say something about, like, you know, well done. And they call in like, oh, Valentine has set the price, or whatever. But it's like, you don't actually see it get as low as he says it will. So it's kind of like, well, it's not done yet. But none of nothing makes sense about how long markets are open or, like, trading's happening movies.

Steve

Let it go. Yeah, but you're right. As Mortimer and Randolph leave, Mortimer, it turns out, drops a money clip on the floor, and Valentine sees it and he.

Nic

So again, right away, you know, part of the. Part of the whole plan.

Nic

And Mortimer keeps trying to slide these little challenges into it. And so. And Valentine, he's like, no, I got a good thing going. I'm not taking this. He goes down to return it.

Nic

I love when he hands it back to. I think he hands it back to Randolph first, and then he gives it to Mortimer, and it kind of like bats up in the air and, like, flips up and he catches it.

Steve

Yeah. Randolph tosses it to Mortimer. And I wrote down, like, how many takes do you think that that took Don Amici?

Nic

Or is it random or was it intended?

Steve

I'm wondering if. Yeah, it was like Ralph Bellamy tosses it to Don Amici, who was supposed to just catch it sort of meekly maybe, but it bounces and it just happened to work out that way. And was that the first take? It would be so fun to fight.

Steve

I'm sure there's like a behind the scenes or director's commentary or something. Yeah.

Nic

Was it like the mask toss by Dr. Dan in Halloween 3, season of the Witch?

Steve

That was a fishing line and a reverse camera trick, so I don't think it was that.

Nic

Okay, these guys now the Zeta Kai idiots.

Nic

So Lewis, he's gotta find somebody to help him. Well, my friends are all at the club, so I can go there. And he's got.

Steve

I.

Nic

This is what I wrote down is his friends, they're all sitting there in these like tennis cardigans and stuff because.

Steve

It'S like a rack. This isn't the Heritage Club, this is.

Nic

Like a racket club, something like that. And they're serenading the women in this, you know, very irritating way. And they're very smugly singing here.

Nic

They're like a barbershop quartet of sexual assault.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Like, they're just, just disgusting looks on their faces because everything that they're singing about, like the song that they're singing is basically about how each of the women there lost her virginity.

Steve

Right, exactly. And how often they were willing to get with them.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Which is like, these guys are basically not unlikable enough already.

Steve

These guys were like the characters in Animal House that weren't the like main fraternity. Like these, these are like the. Not the military, the bacon guys.

Steve

Like, these are like the dick head frat boys, like from that era. They're very like 60s frat boys, it feels like. And I love. Before Lewis comes in, after they do their singing and like whatever Lewis comes in, but before he actually reaches them, one of the girls is like telling a story and all we hear from her say is, and she stepped on the ball. And they all laugh.

Steve

And I, for some reason, that's always been the funniest lines to me in the movie.

Nic

Cuz that's another good like, dig at just like, I'm not going to show you a whole story of how boring these are. This is their punchline. This is what pieces of they are. Yeah.

Nic

Really good. And of course, you know, they don't want to help him. Now. Penelope is already attached with like the most irritating of the barbershop quartet guys.

Steve

Yes.

Steve

The Tanner who is always the most irritating of the barbershop quartet.

Nic

And he's, he's telling Winthorpe. He's like, you know, frankly, it shows extremely bad taste of you to even.

Steve

Show up here and embarrass us.

Nic

That's embarrass us, like, right.

Nic

So everything is an assault on their image, you know?

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So. So his next resort is he's at a pawn shop talking to the great Bo Diddley. Bo knows and, and he's, you know, describing his watch and the guy's like, this is stolen.

Nic

I'll give you 50 bucks for it.

Steve

So hot is bun in my fingers, man. Yeah, But I love that he points out that it tells time in like, you know, Tokyo, London, whatever, and Staad, which is like not even the largest city in Switzerland. But maybe that's where the watch was made. I don't know.

Steve

I thought it was an interesting.

Nic

Sounds very funny. I think they probably workshop like, it doesn't burn. Doesn't sound as good. You know, like, try these different city names.

Nic

The way he said that it was like, all right, we got to build a joke around Akroyd saying this.

Steve

It really was perfect.

Nic

Yeah, yeah. So the pawn shop guy basically says like, I give you 50 bucks. Like here.

Nic

He's like, okay, fine, give me the 50 bucks. And then. Very funny. Right as he's about to be handed the money, he's like, oh, how much for that gun?

Steve

Bo Diddley's look like response to that is so good.

Steve

Eyes wide like, like, oh my God. So now, now. Oh, this is great too. So now we cut to. It's raining outside and we're having dinner and it's the Dukes and it's Valentine and then it's a handful of other people, most of whom we haven't seen yet, but I think we'll see again later in the movie.

Steve

And one of them is guy they refer to as judge. I don't know what, you know, he's a judge, but he has the most ridiculous facial hair ever. It's like a crazy. A beard that only goes to the neck and chin and then a mustache. Yeah, Very weird looking thing.

Steve

But he's telling a joke. Honestly, one of the better jokes in the movie that are like just told as jokes where he's talking about like, you know, the snail goes to the car salesman, wants to get a big S painted on his car. I'm a big S on every door and on top a big S. Why would you want that? Well, you see, when I drive my car down the avenue, I want everyone to look and say, look at that escargot. And they all laugh.

Steve

And it's actually A pretty decent joke if you know the French word escargot. And, like, what, you know, totally still and everything. So it's pretty funny. But they all bust up, up. And.

Steve

And then it's like, this is like. I don't know how much time has passed is. Is an issue, right? I do think Lou's black eye is healed, so it's not like the next day, right. But like some.

Steve

The judge, I. So Valentine, I'm thinking, going long on April wheat, what do you think? You know, this would be like a wheat contract due in April, right? And. And he goes, here's.

Steve

And then everybody in the restaurant stops to listen because now, Valentine's. There's a few reasons why I don't think you should do that, Judge. And then everybody goes back to things. So it's like. But I'm like, why would anybody give a crap what this guy thinks?

Steve

Thinks how much time. We know how much time has passed because we're still. It's still not to Christmas yet.

Nic

But if the Dukes are behind someone, they might be like, the Dukes are always on to some. So if they're even making this guy public, they've known about him for months.

Steve

And he's already made them. And frankly, you're telling me the Duke brothers have a black man running their firm? He must be a super genius, right? Because they're such racists.

Nic

Right.

Steve

They would never. Right. Allow that for just a run of the mill smart guy, you know, a literal oracle who can see the future kind of thing because they're such racist assholes.

Nic

So. So during this whole dinner scene, and I love the music again, this is.

Nic

I don't know what the name of the piece is, but it's the same as in the French restaurant in the Blues Brothers that's playing. So while this fancy dinner is happening in the restaurant, Winthorpe is outside in the pouring rain a la Rick Moranis and Ghostbusters. Kind of of like standing out there just watching the dinner happen, getting poured on in his, like, fur pimp coat and all this stuff. I will say, a coat like that today is going to run you 950 bucks.

Steve

Because it was real fur, you know, that was real.

Steve

100%.

Nic

Yeah, yeah. So. So Winthorpe is sick now because he's been out in the rain all night plotting his revenge through a restaurant window. And you know what?

Nic

A real fancy restaurant, people can't look at you from the street. You go by the French Laundry. Good luck getting a peep into that.

Steve

The windows are up high and they're small. They're just enough to let light in.

Steve

Not so much, you know, visage to the outside world.

Nic

Yeah, so. So he's sick now. And Ophelia, once again, outside of her contract, she is, like, taking such good care of him. She's being super nice to him.

Nic

She's, you know, okay, you rest up, you take care of yourself. You're no good to me if you're.

Steve

Yeah, whatever. And protecting her investment.

Nic

Yes, that's what she says.

Nic

But.

Steve

But it's more than that.

Nic

It really is.

Steve

Especially when she then has her john show up for his date date and has to. And she tells him, oh, my mama just came into town, can we do it next week?

Steve

Because it's like she doesn't want to kick Lewis out of the bed. And even she comes back and he's getting up, he's like, you've got work to do. This is business. I'll leave, like, whatever. And she says, like, no, you're crazy.

Steve

And she takes her clothes off and gets into bed with them. Like, and she's just sort of like petting his head. I don't think it's anything overtly sexual at this point, but, like, clearly she's got feelings. She's catching feelings for him.

Nic

Sure, sure.

Nic

And maybe that's all part of the plan to bill him later. You know, if you're at a restaurant, like, oh, run a. To a kid. Do you want a refill on that mocktail? Yeah, I do.

Nic

And they charge you 1350 for it. Okay, so Winthorpe, he sees a newspaper, like, one of the things. She hands him the newspaper and there's an article about Valentine, says something about.

Steve

You know, the new manager of Duke and Duke, Whatever. Yeah.

Nic

And then it says something about Christmas because he. He goes, christmas, huh? I'll give him a Christmas he'll never forget. It's very Christmas present he'll never forget.

Steve

Very snidely Whiplash.

Nic

Very, like, cartoonish villain, like, tie in a. Into a train track style. For sure.

Steve

Oh, my God. So then we cut to Duke and Duke to the Christmas party in the office.

Steve

It's sort of that. It's not the bottom floor. It's that main floor after the elevator where you get on. And then there's the offices and stuff where everybody said good morning and all that. Yep.

Steve

And. And they're having this big Christmas party. There's big, big spread laid out. And Winthorpe is there. We see him right away.

Steve

You know, it's not super clear to everyone around him who he is, but we Realize who he is. And he's wearing the dirtiest, just gnarliest Santa suit. So gross. I don't know where it came from, but it looks like he found it in a dumpster down an alley somewhere, right? And.

Steve

And that's what he's wearing. And so we cut real quickly to. Valentine is in his office finishing up work, looking through payroll again. So it must be a couple weeks later, right? Another.

Steve

Another paycheck is due to everybody. And he sees instead of $50,000 to Clarence Speaks, 10,000 to Clarence Peaks, and it's like. And goes to ask Randolph and Mortimer about it. And, you know, of course, Mortimer has to make a crack about, you know, we did run this place successfully for 40. Whatever years before you came.

Steve

Or, you know, Valentine whatever. Like, okay, so. So after. So Valentine leaves his office, at which point Louis, who had been just taking stuff off of the buffet table, just large amounts of food, shoving it in the pockets and shoving the entire smoked salmon down the shirt of his Santa suit, sneaks into Valentine's office, his old office, and starts loading up his center drawer of his desk with pills and joints and all this kind of stuff.

Nic

It's like the whole board that the DARE Officer brings to the school all in one thing, and he dumps it down, down there.

Nic

One thing I will ask you. How quickly would you quit a job if they had the office Christmas party at the office on Christmas Eve and you had to go, yeah, is terrible. I know. It's like a movie thing. It's just like the bachelor party is always the night before the wedding because it makes for a better movie.

Nic

But, yeah, I hate this shit.

Steve

I've never had a Christmas party on Christmas Eve at any company I've ever worked at. I've never had a Christmas party at the office at any company I've worked at. At one time, I got a Christmas party was pretty awesome. I worked for a sports website, and our Christmas party was in the Giants clubhouse at Oracle Park.

Steve

It was at and T Park at the time, right after they won, I think the 2012 maybe or 2010 World Series. And so we got to, like, hang out with the World Series trophy and, like, in the whole thing and go take bat. I took out to BP in their batting cages. That was a cool Christmas party.

Nic

That's a Christmas party, dude.

Nic

That beats, like, sitting at your own desk right? On Christmas Eve while your family's at home. I didn't see any plus ones.

Steve

No, just employees and, like, as if the Duke. I mean, the Duke.

Steve

The Dukes are Ebenezer Scrooge. Right. If Ebenezer Scrooge allowed for a Christmas party, it would absolutely only be for Bob Cratchit. Tiny Tim can go to hell.

Nic

Yeah.

Nic

Yeah. Valentine walks in on him doing this.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

And he's like, we gotta deal with this, man. I'm gonna call security.

Nic

And he's like, hello, security. And then Winthorpe pulls out a gun and points it at me, goes, merry Christmas. And then hangs once again. Again, one of, like, the five lines in this movie where it's like Eddie Murphy's the only guy who can capture it that efficiently and. And get a laugh on, like, just such a normal line.

Steve

There's so many. There's so few people. I kept trying to think of anybody else. I think that that pulls off that kind of switch between one mentality to another when it is forced upon them by another actor. Like, it's that reaction to the other actor and that.

Steve

It's just very interesting. And there's not a lot of actors that do that, especially. Especially in comedies. And Eddie Murphy's. Fantastic.

Steve

Before they get to that part where Winthorpe's actually pulled the gun, though, the. The Dukes kind of let slip a little bit about the wager. Not enough to give anything away, but enough to get Valentine's attention, where they say something about. Or maybe it's after. But they say something about, you know, there was another party had to turn to crime or whatever it was.

Steve

When I would think it was when Valentine was telling them about the payroll thing, it's like, oh, look, Valentine's working still. You know, it's like, oh, the wager's not done yet. You know, another party had to turn to crime, like that kind of. So Valentine's now suspicious of them. But basically, after he pulls the gun, Winthorpe is like, you know, just wants to get out, but he's sort of like, waving the gun at everybody.

Steve

He doesn't shoot anybody, whatever, but he's threatening everyone. And I think we talked a lot last week in. Or not last week, a few weeks ago in Raising Arizona about man screaming. And this is some fantastic man screamer, Dan Aykroyd, as. He just starts yelling as he's running through the thing, jumps up on a desk and, like, waves the gun and everybody drops, you know, and he's just kind of like, yeah, I'm a big man.

Steve

And he hops down, grabs a bottle of liquor and heads out the door. Well, yeah, out into the stairwell of the building, because they're on, like, the 60th floor. I guess, because he. He walks. He ends up walking downstairs and by the time he gets to the bottom, he is absolutely blotto shit.

Nic

Like, most I know. And he started off, like, pretty drunk.

Nic

So. So Valentine is talking to the Dukes after this, and his Valentine's kind of like getting. Get these drugs out of my desk. He puts a J in his pocket.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

But he's telling the Dukes. He's like. Like, you got to go hard on this. Like, you can't go easy on people like this. Trust me, I know.

Nic

You know, and he sneaks into the bathroom to smoke it. And while he's doing that, the Dukes come in and they, you know, he jumps up on the toilet seat mainly to not get caught smoking weed.

Steve

Yeah, Right.

Nic

And then he ends up listening in on their conversation.

Steve

Right.

Steve

And they basically settle the bet. Like. Like Valentine is a hard working, upstanding member of society and making them money. Right. Which is the most important thing to them that Winthorpe did.

Steve

Now Winthorpe has turned to trying to frame someone carrying drugs around. He's got a gun, he's waving at people. You know, he's broken several laws right in front of their face. That's crime. So they're like, yeah, we're done.

Steve

Like, basically, Mortimer owes Randolph a dollar. That's what the whole bet was for. They ruined two lives for a single dollar. Because again, it's not about. That part's not about money to these guys.

Steve

Guys. It's just about being right or wrong.

Nic

Right.

Steve

You know, the actual wager part.

Nic

And especially if.

Nic

If everything they own is kind of 50. 50?

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

You know, if you have the extra dollar, then it's like. Even if it's not exactly.

Nic

But symbolically, it's like, I'm one up on you.

Steve

Exactly. Right. That dollar is mine.

Nic

Right?

Steve

Yeah. And of course, they then talk about, well, how do we get everything back? And Randall's like, what do we do to get. You know, I think we should wait to get Winthorpe back until after the crop report comes out, which is what Beaks is helping them with. And Mortimer's like, I don't want Winthorpe back after what he did.

Steve

And then Ram's like, you think you want. So you're saying we should keep Valentine. And this is when Don Amici hits the hard R. Edward, you think I want a one of those running our family firm? Neither would I. So, yeah, you know, they're basically making it clear that they're gonna return Valentine to the ghetto.

Steve

They do still say something about, you know, waiting to Switch them back. But it doesn't sound like they're gonna help Winthorpe. You know, they're gonna just. That's it, it's done. And they're gonna.

Nic

Everyone's just replacing sensible.

Steve

Exactly. So basically, now we see Winthorpe is heading down the stairs, like I said, from the office. He's drunk, he's, like, drinking this bottle. Valentine, who has now heard all this, is leaving, trying to find Winthrop.

Steve

He wants to talk to him. Right. Well, he gets down on the elevator and sees Winthorpe coming down the stairs at the other end of the lobby. And he's blottoing Winthorpe. You know, and I love Ackroyd's reaction, just goes.

Nic

Oh, my God.

Steve

He heads out to. Into the street. Valentine follows him. You know, mistakenly sees another guy, dresses Santa and tries to get his attention.

Steve

Not him, rips his mustache off. That poor guy with the spirit gum tape. That's gonna hurt.

Nic

And there's an interesting shot because, like, right as he. So he turns around, the guy that he rips the beard off, and then as that guy turns back around, it shows another Santa who's standing at the same angle, but it's Winthorpe.

Nic

And he gets on the bus, and Winthorpe on the bus now. I mean, he's basically the Polish guy at the booking stage, like, moving people over, and he's eating. He has this, like, big rack of smoked salmon. Yeah. And he's just chomping on it through his beard with, like, gross, dirty beard hairs.

Nic

I know it's not human hair, but.

Steve

No. Eating the smoke sand through the dirty Santa beard is one of the grossest things I've ever seen in cinema history. And I have seen the movie Human Centipede, and this is still, like, right up there.

Nic

This is human canopy.

Steve

It. Oh, God, it's just gross. Like, I'm not a germaphobe in general, but this grosses me out. So for every time he pulls that salmon up through his beard and has to, like, pull the hair of the beard away from the meat of the fish, it's. Oh, it's so nasty.

Nic

It's. Yeah. So effective. So effective.

Steve

This is.

Steve

You want to see rock bottom. Like, that is rock, rock bottom. Right. Like, we are. That is abundantly clear to us how.

Nic

Far down he's fallen. And, you know, we see him eat a bit earlier when they're having their proper lobster dinner, when he's with Penelope and stuff. So, like, how far he's. He's fallen here. Yeah.

Nic

Really, really funny.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So let's see and the. Now Lewis steps off the bus, basically pulls the gun out of his pocket, puts us to his head, pulls the trigger, doesn't fire right. And then he gets this look like, I'm such a loser, I can't even kill myself.

Nic

Himself throws the gun off screen, and then you hear like. Like, it shoots off the second it hits the ground, which is just a really great gag.

Steve

And before he goes to shoot himself or try to write, a dog pees on his foot. And then the rain starts pouring again. So it's like every possible thing is happening and he can't even end it right or whatever.

Steve

And so he goes upstairs because he's at Ophelia's apartment. Basically, he goes upstairs. You know, Valentine got in a cab to follow the bus, so he follows him home. Louie goes upstairs. Louie Winthorpe goes upstairs and, like, goes into the bathroom and.

Steve

And. And Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't actually see him. Ophelia doesn't see him when he comes in. She's putting tinsel on the tree or whatever. And then Valentine shows up and it's like, excuse me, the door was open.

Steve

I'm looking for Mr. Winthorpe. Is he here?

Nic

You know, by the way, best approach to, like, an open door. I was like, hey, hey. He's learned a lot, you know, and.

Steve

She is kind of like, give me a minute. And then she's, like, knocking the door like, louie, it's him. It's Valentine. Oh, my God, Lou. Whatever.

Steve

No response. So then Valentine busts the door down and. And then they see Winthorpe is in the bathtub. He's climbed in there and he's. A bunch of pills have dropped, but he's taken, obviously, a ton of whatever it was.

Steve

We don't even know what Quaaludes or something that he's got. So we cut to back to, I guess, Valentine's house now. It's not Winthorpe's house now. Valentine's house and Coleman and the bed. And there's a doctor there who I recognize from the Money Pit.

Steve

I don't know if you ever saw that, but he plays Curly, the foreman of the construction company in the Money Pit. I was like, this guy's great actor, but he's there and he's like, oh, it's close, but he'll be okay. You know, just no excitement. Yeah, like. And that's.

Steve

He really stressed.

Nic

No excitement, no excitement. And, you know, I think the way Ophelia so cheerily says Merry Christmas to the doctor when he leaves is another just small bit that tells you so much about the character.

Steve

She is, like, the Ophelia character is, like, the sweetest. Like, first of all, she's gorgeous, but she's, like, kind of, like, simple in her needs.

Steve

Like, if you're nice to her and she can be nice to you, it's like, that's all she needs in life.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

It's just being kind and everybody's be kind to you. And there's just something about that is, like, so pure and, like, nice. And then in the rest of the world that Winthorpe's in, everybody is so not that.

Steve

Right. Where kindness doesn't even matter. Right. Like, it's not even a part of the equation.

Nic

Brown nosing is the closest to get to that.

Nic

Right. Subservience is the closest. Closest you get to that.

Steve

Oh, my gosh.

Nic

Yeah.

Nic

So basically, Winthorpe, his eyes open and he's looking around there, he's like, oh, my God, I had the most terrible dream. Like, I'm glad I'm in my bed. Coleman, I'm glad you're here. Oh, there's this most horrible. And then he basically sees Eddie Murphy.

Steve

Right, Right.

Nic

Sees Valentine and just blasts up and starts choking him out, which is really funny, where he's choking him and Valentine saying, it was the Dukes.

Steve

It was the Dukes. And Ophelia and Coleman pull, you know, Louis off, because obviously Coleman knows the whole story. And so now that it's open, he's like, yes, sir.

Steve

Like, I'm so sorry, but this is true. Like, whatever. And Ophelia's like, I believe them, like, whatever. And he says, it was a bet, man. Like Valentine's.

Steve

They bet on him if they could switch us and it would work out. And it was like, how much did they wager? Like, how much for a dollar one? Like, the way he says that is, like, so great. So now we cut to him, he's all, like, gotten out of bed, he's dressed, whatever.

Steve

In fact, he's wearing a vest and, like, a belt full of shotgun shells and. And cleaning his shotgun. He's got the ramrod and everything. And Valentine's like, man, you can't just go shoot somebody's kneecaps off because you don't like them. He goes, why not?

Steve

And they suggest, hey, I think the best way to. To, you know, hurt rich people is make them poor. And Coleman says, you didn't like him much yourself, you know? And that's when Clarence Beak shows up on the news, on tv, and Ophelia is the first one to notice it and goes like, louie, that's the guy that paid me to kiss you. Like.

Steve

Like, that's the guy. And then they both. And then they hear the on the news thing. It's like, you know, linder Security, you know, Clarence Beaks. Like, for whatever reason, they mention his name and both Valentine win.

Steve

They're like, clarence Peaks, you know, and it's like. And they. It's all coming together. They're realizing it, and they realize what's happening. He's got the crop report.

Steve

The Dukes are going to try to corner the frozen concentrated orange juice market. And Ophelia goes, like, you know, well, not if we stop them. And then Denhold, like, holy. And goes. Or beat them to it.

Steve

And he's holding a platter of. Yeah, eggnog. He's still serving the eggnog.

Nic

He's so good. And.

Nic

And again, like, as. As someone watching this movie, it's so satisfying now that Ophelia and Coleman and Valentine and Lewis are like, all together in that.

Steve

The Fantastic Four. Like, it really is. This group is so much fun.

Steve

It's all the best people in the movie. Yeah, well, I mean, Louis Vuitton being forced to learn how to be a good person a lot of ways, but like, Lewis, now this Lewis, the post, sort of Ophelia Lewis really has become a better person. And. And they're much easier to root for. And it's a great group to kind of like, oh, yeah, let's go take down Beaks and the Dukes.

Steve

Yeah, because they're awful. Like, Beaks, like, shoves people to the ground and is on the phone and is just like, hey, fuck off. Like, he's just an absolute.

Nic

There's, like, extra stuff that they have.

Steve

Him do to make sure he's awful.

Nic

Yeah, for sure.

Nic

So now Beaks is taking this train now, and it looks like it's from Baltimore to Philly. There's a sign on there about the group that's holding this New Year's Eve costume party on a train from Baltimore to Philly because Beaks had to be.

Steve

In D.C. to get the crop perform from the Department of Agriculture. So now he has to head to Philly to give it to the Dukes, basically.

Nic

So I love the Jim Belushi role in this.

Nic

It's so funny. I only love it if he's doing it to make fun of that type of guy rather than to show how cool that type of guy guy is. Because with Jim Belushi, I'm not sure where he actually falls on that spectrum.

Steve

But because with his brother, it would have been clear that it was. That it was saturation.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

But Jim Belushi in the. He's in this ape costume and he's being extremely creepy with this woman at the bar who is, like, kind of enjoying his a little. Like, she's amused by him.

Steve

She knows.

Steve

Whatever.

Nic

Seems like he's just kind of like, oh, come on. You ever make it with an ape just being a. Just being a dork. But a New Year's Eve train ride costume party is so much better than a Christmas Eve office party, right?

Steve

Absolutely. Like, I mean, I've never done a New Year's Eve costume party. Like, I had to remind myself watching this. This isn't Halloween.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

It really looks like a great idea. They're like elaborate costumes. But, yeah. The idea of, like, a train party where, you know, if the idea is, like, the train rides maybe an hour long or less. Right.

Steve

And you're going to get to wherever you're going. Like, it seems like maybe if they're heading from Baltimore to Philadelphia. I don't know if the idea is they eventually go to New York or is Philadelphia a hotspot of. You know, it's not Times Square. Right.

Steve

We know that's like a central location for New Year's Eve. Or is it more just meant to be like, are you on the train at midnight? I don't fully understand. Yeah. But it does seem like a fun.

Steve

A fun thing to do, for sure.

Nic

Good time. No one's driving, right?

Steve

Exactly. That's always good.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So. So Beaks now is in this car, the train, which has a couple, you know, benches facing each other so it can seat, like four or five people. And he gets in there with his briefcase. And then we're starting to be joined by our crew here.

Steve

Beef Chucky time.

Nic

So, buddy, what is. What is Valentine's fake character name? He comes in basically as like, an African exchange.

Steve

Such an exchange from Cameroon.

Steve

Yeah. Yeah, that's right.

Nic

Great team to play on that NES soccer game, by the way. Hell of a team.

Steve

Well, the World cup team in, like, in like, 86 or whatever.

Steve

Cameroon was actually really good, like, surprisingly. Or 84, whatever it was.

Nic

So. So his character is really funny. Right.

Nic

So he has, you know, the dashiki on and stuff. And. And then he has this silly, like, little fan that he's flipping around or.

Steve

Like a fly swatting thing. Yeah.

Nic

And then who comes in next?

Steve

Coleman. And he's dressed as, like, an Irish. He's got more of an Irish accent he's put on himself. He's dressed like A priest.

Steve

He's got a little flask of whiskey and, you know, it's like, I interest either of you in a jolt of Irish whiskey, you know, whatever. And, and, and I love Eddie Murphy. Like, offers him. He's like, want some beef, Jackie? And he goes, oh, no, son, thank you.

Steve

It gives me the wind something terrible.

Nic

I love those lines to each other. That something else that Eddie Murphy says something to Beaks and he's like, merry New Year. It's Happy New Year's.

Steve

Like, thank you for correcting my English, which stinks.

Nic

So then, so then we have Ophelia come in and she's like, you know, dressed in a, like a germ, like a leaderhosen looking thing, but she's saying that she's Swedish.

Steve

Yeah. And Coleman's like, but you're wearing lederhosen, like you're from Austria, right? She's like, no, yeah, I'm. I don't know.

Steve

Her name is from Sweden. It's like, it's the only voice she could do. Maybe, you know, the character doesn't have a lot of accents she knew how to do, but yeah. So she asks Beaks to help her with her rucksack, like her backpack, whatever. And when he goes to.

Steve

To put it up, Eddie Murphy's able to like, switch his briefcase with the one that Beaks has and kind of hide it under his. Under the dashiki. So now he's got the real briefcase with the real crop report in it. He excuses himself from the car, goes down to the bathroom, knocks on the door a few times and, like, obviously Lewis is inside. He knocks back and it's like, man, open the door.

Steve

Like, they didn't figure out the plan. Hands him the briefcase and then he hands it back. Or no, no, then, then he goes back to the, to the room. Then the next thing that happens is we have Dan Aykroyd show up. Now he's in blackface and playing a Jamaican person who knows Eddie Murphy's character, this Cameroonian exchange student, because they met at some conference.

Steve

Right. Is what they say.

Nic

Right.

Steve

I want to ask your opinion. Yeah.

Steve

Is this Dan Aykroyd in blackface or is this Lewis Winthorpe in blackface?

Nic

I bet Dan Aykroyd would say it was Lewis Winthorpe.

Steve

I think that's accurate because Dan Aykroyd is not playing a black character.

Nic

Actually, you know, know, it's an idea that Lewis Winthorpe would have if he had to put a costume on.

Steve

100%, absolutely.

Nic

But I will say he does a good Patois.

Steve

Yes, he does.

Nic

You know, he's no Chet Hanks, but, you know, he's okay. I. I love the name of his character. Lionel Joseph.

Steve

Lionel Joseph.

Nic

Just what is such a fun name to say? But yeah, I mean, you know, blackface is. It's not holding up well, but it is definitely something that Lewis Winthorpe would decide to do.

Steve

Beaks would clock Winthorpe immediately.

Steve

No matter what he's dressed as, he would recognize him immediately without something kind of covering his face. Now getting. Now it's a costume party. Maybe they didn't know that before they were coming, but he could have worn a costume. Costume, potentially.

Nic

That is true.

Steve

But I do think this is not. I, in my opinion. And look, I am a white man, so my opinion is just a minor part of it. Not final in any way, but it feels more like this is not Ackroyd wearing blackface because the character he's playing is a white man, but that character is in blackface for another purpose.

Steve

That's the way I take it. Don't know if that's accepted.

Nic

I'm glad, I'm glad we brought this up because I forgot that I had screen capped a bit of an interview from Dan Aykroyd about this exact thing here. So, okay, this is what he said first because he's kind of like distancing himself basically. Like, I wouldn't have done this.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

He says, Eddie and I were improvising there. Eddie's a black man and his entourage were all black people. And I don't think they batted it eye. There was no objection then.

Nic

Nobody said anything. It was just a good comic beat that was truthful to the story, which, like, I get that, but he's also a comedian and he's gonna have a different standard for the kind of shit that he wants to see. But this is the thing that killed me. The actor continued. In these days, we're living in all that's out the window.

Nic

I'd be hard pressed to do an English accent and get away with it.

Steve

Oh, my God.

Nic

They'd say, oh, you're not English. You can't do it. Dan.

Nic

Missing the point, dude. No, no. Like you're doing the.

Steve

Well, what's next? You can marry your cat?

Nic

Like, shut the up.

Steve

Why is there no white history thing.

Nic

That we're talking about? So I will say, I don't think you should do blackface. I think there's a different reason why you shouldn't do blackface than why you should be able to do an English accent.

Nic

So poor Dan Aykroyd wasn't in Downton Abbey because he was afraid of being canceled by the Woke Mobile job.

Steve

Right, Right, Yes. Remember earlier we were talking about punching up? Yeah, that's the opposite of that.

Nic

Apparently he's a 70 year old guy that has a company that makes vodka that comes inside little skull bottles and he does like alien shows on the History Channel.

Nic

He's not my.

Steve

Did you see the John Candy documentary?

Nic

I didn't watch that.

Steve

You gotta watch it. Ackroyd is wearing the most ridiculous, like, like blue silk vests.

Steve

He's sitting in a hunting lodge. It's the most ridiculous looking.

Nic

He seems like one of the celebs. I've enjoyed his work. Work.

Nic

I don't know if I would want to be stuck next to him on a plane.

Steve

I agree. Yeah, I would absolutely rather sit next to Eddie Murphy. 100% sure. Anyway, so they.

Steve

Ackroyd comes in and he's like smoking a cigar, whatever. And Ophelia says, hey, we're all together. Which is like silly. Like she doesn't know the other. Doesn't know these other people supposedly.

Steve

But like, let's have a picnic. You help me with my hook sack again, you know, so. So Beaks gets back up to grab the backpack, but this time when Aykroyd and Murphy try to switch the briefcases again or whatever. Or he tried. Tries to switch with Beaks.

Steve

Beaks notices and so he recognizes it and that's. And he. And he rips the. The wig and the hat off. Like, oh, I got you, you know, Winthorpe or whatever, you know, And I love it.

Steve

It's like the two baggage handlers who we've seen a couple times this point delivering a gorilla onto the train, which really is an important part.

Nic

Al Franken.

Steve

One of them is Al Franken. Yeah. They come in kind of accidentally or whatever.

Steve

Like, oh, hey, sorry, I didn't know this was full. And Beaks has got the gun and he's like. Like, I'll rip out your eyes and piss on your brain or something. Like, like he's. God damn, dude.

Steve

Like, yeah, it's wild.

Nic

So. And they take off, right? And. And Beaks now has them there and he's like, okay, the party's over.

Nic

As the Jim Belushi.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

In the ape costume comes and he's like, the party's over. What are you talking about the party's over? It's not even 10 o'.

Steve

Clock.

Nic

So saved by the doofiness of like one of those party dudes so he distracts them enough and they end up subduing Beaks.

Steve

Right. They put him, the gorilla like hits him in the head or whatever because he hit Jim Balushi's character who's wearing the ape costume in front of the real gorilla. He like hits him, the gorilla gets mad and hits Beaks and knocks him out real quick though why would Beaks be comfortable leaving his real briefcase in the car?

Steve

Right. And taking these four or five people or four people to shoot them. Right. But it's like, I know, I don't think he would have left his briefcase, but either way he's now knocked out. Out.

Steve

They wrap, you know, duct tape around his mouth and basically put him in Jim Belushi's costume and somehow get him into the cage. Yeah, let's not ask how that happened. When, when we see. So then Jim Belushi comes back in the party. Yeah, go for it.

Nic

So Jim Belushi comes back to the party and he's just in like an undershirt and under and like boxers. And he looks around, he goes, hey, look what happened to me. And everyone just starts cheering and like there's no, there's no like hey dude, I got, got pretty violently robbed of my possessions.

Nic

So anyway, love the Jim Belush effect in this one.

Steve

It's definitely, definitely funny stuff. But, but anyway, so now the baggage handlers have come back into the, the back and found Beaks. They don't know his beaks is inside this costume, which like this gorilla costume does not look anything like a gorilla. So it's amazing that everybody treats it.

Nic

Like to be fair, neither does the real gorilla.

Steve

Well that's true. It's also a bad costume. But, but basically I've always, I always wondered in this scene literally like this is not something I just came to this time, it's every time I understand that Beaks mouth is taped. Why doesn't he just pull the mask off?

Steve

Yeah, it's like a hood helmet type pull over your face. Why doesn't he just pull that off? Anyway, after Beaks is forcibly penetrated by the other gorilla, we cut away from the train to the towers of the World Trade Center.

Nic

That's right. Rest in peace.

Steve

Rest in peace.

Nic

They're going to the World Trade center to really get, get. I love these trading floor scenes from the 80s. It's always so fascinating to me. I still don't fully understand how any order is kept.

Nic

You know, I know you have pre numbered shit, whatever, but it seems just so chaotic and I know it's Meant to, right? And it's meant to scare people away.

Steve

From, you know, there's even a moment like during this sort of sequence where you see, I think when they end up looking at the TVs for the actual crop report, which we'll get to in a minute, you can see that the pad Aykroyd is holding and it's just scribbles. Yeah, like it's literally just pencil scribbles all over. Like that's what he's been doing, you know, in the scene kind of of thing.

Steve

But yeah, we should back up a little bit. So the Dukes arrive at the exchange and they tell their trader, buy frozen concentrate orange juice, it doesn't matter how, how high the price goes, bye, bye, bye. And he's like, well s. Like the crop report will come out in an hour. What if you let us worry about that? Just buy, right?

Steve

And he gets it. He's like, oh, they've got info. Okay, so they do that. Then Valentine and Winthorpe have taken money from Coleman and Melia, basically their life savings to like, you know, sort of, sort of fund this effort they're going to do. Which, like the way it works out, I think the, the margin call, they end as long as they had margin available.

Steve

I don't think they actually need any cash because they end up so far ahead, right on margin. But that's okay regardless, they end up going there as well. And Winthorpe's trying to tell Valentine like, hey man, this is killer. Be killed, you know, take no prisoners in the pits, nothing, you know, got to kill him. We're going to fuck, we're going to kill him.

Steve

Like he stops himself from swearing again.

Nic

When the traders are getting ready. There's good scene of the guys kind of stressing out in front of the mirror right before the trading open opens and doing the cop, the classic combo like the whiskey and the Pepto, you know, like our buddy in Cape Fear.

Steve

That's right, yes, like Joe Don Baker. But yeah, so yeah, they're talking and then, but Winthorpe and Valentine are super cool and collected.

Steve

Valentine's got his like Afro pick, he's like getting his hair right and Winthrop's combing his hair and they're just chill. The. Some bell rings, obviously not to start trading but some kind of indicator. You get out to the floor, they slowly head on out there. And so of course their idea is, if I can figure that, if I can explain it as succinctly as possible, their idea is to wait until the price goes high and Then take sell and then sell orders to other people who want to buy.

Steve

Right. So now they will then be selling at a high price. Then when the crop report comes out and which they know it's going to come out and say there's going to be plenty of orange crop, it's not going to be, you know, a scarce commodity this year. The price will start going down and then when it reaches the bottom, then they will start taking buy orders. So the, they're kind of doing it backwards, but the idea is they are buying low and selling high, making a profit.

Steve

Right. And.

Nic

And you just have to settle by the end of the day.

Steve

Exactly. The key is the actual in, in the day, it doesn't matter.

Steve

At the end of the day, it's like, oh, how many orders do you have here? And how many orders you have here, which are, you know, puts and calls or whatever the hell the deal is. And, and it all, you know, wash comes out in the wash and they'll be way up, you know, the way this works. Meanwhile, the Dukes have told their guy to buy, buy, buy no matter what. And so he is buying at every single price point and continuing to buy even at the high prices when Winthorpe and Valentine are taking sell orders.

Steve

Yep. And that's sort of the gist of it is like it really boils down to the Dukes are buying high and selling low and Winthorpe and Valentine are buying low and selling high, and that's how their money essentially changes hands. Yep, that's basically it.

Nic

Yeah. And, and you know, it's a good scene of, of the Duke's like, private trader guy who's just losing his mind as the price starts dropping after this crop report comes out.

Steve

Right.

Nic

And, and he's like fainting and, you know, and they're just like shoving him back, his, his limp body, like, get back in there and. Get back in there and sell there and sell.

Steve

Although, well, you wouldn't want him to sell at that point. It's not like, yeah, lower and lower prices, but like, I don't know.

Nic

So, you know, the end of the day, basically we see that they're out. They, they made all these deals on margin, like they didn't make it with cash they had on hand.

Steve

So $390 million and I mean, 390.

Nic

Million in $1983 for like a day of action. Right.

Steve

It's like over a billion dollars today.

Nic

Yeah. And I think it was this judge guy, the guy who looks like a cross between Leroy Neiman and Sebastian Gorka and Holy Shit.

Steve

He does.

Nic

He's.

Nic

He's gorkish.

Steve

He really is gorkish.

Nic

So, yeah, so he's basically, like, revokes their seat.

Steve

Yeah, well, you have to sell it, basically. Apparently it has value.

Steve

So, yeah, you got to liquidate their assets. Assets, Personal assets. The assets of the firm. Like, everything's gone. It's basically Duke and Duke Commodities Brokers is out of business.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

The Duke brothers themselves are gonna have no personal assets, no seat on the exchange. It's all done. They're ruined. And now I don't think that that means that Valentine and.

Steve

And Winthorpe made $394 million, but they made hundred, probably hundreds of lions. Yeah, it's nine figures for sure.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Which, like, split four ways even is crazy wonderful. So.

Nic

Yeah, yeah, so. So they get to tell them, you know, like, oh, they're Valentine and Winthorpe, see the Dukes, and they're like, oh, we do have a bet to settle, don't we? And then they exchange the dollar between the two of them, which is really funny.

Steve

I also love when. When they come for the margin call, Randolph looks like he has, like, a heart attack.

Steve

Like, he clutches his chest and falls. And the judge goes, mortimer, your brother. And Mortimer goes, fuck him. Put those machines back on.

Steve

And then we cut to kind of the final scene. It's the Beat beach, some beautiful tropical beach somewhere. There's a boat just off the shore, and on the boat are Louie and Ophelia. And on the shore is, you know, Valentine with a beautiful girl next to him and Coleman with a beautiful girl on his arm. And I love that, you know, this, like.

Steve

Like, you know, first of all, there's the. The replay of the, you know, looking good, Louis. Feeling good, Todd is, you know, looking good, Louis. Feeling good, Billy Ray or whatever, whichever way it goes. And then Billy Ray, you know, goes, hey, Coleman, man, what should we do about lunch?

Steve

Lobsters. The crack lobster. The crack crab. And Coleman asks his girl, you're like, what should we have? And she goes, why can't we have both?

Steve

And both. And. And he, like, calls over to, like, you know, the servant boy or whatever, and I love this guy's response is extra primo. Good, Mr. Coleman. Lobster and cracked crab for everyone.

Nic

I love that Coleman got to order from the. You know, it's like all these. All these ends are tied up in this movie.

Steve

Yeah. He is dressed a little bit like Ricardo Montalban in.

Steve

What was it? What's that show called? Not Forbidden island is a Fantasy Island. Fantasy Island.

Nic

Oh, man. So that's it. So that is Trading Places. Yeah. And it just ends.

Nic

I mean, great movie. And I guess. Do you want me to do my rating first?

Steve

Yeah, man, go for it. This is your pick.

Steve

Give us, give us your take.

Nic

I'm so glad I picked this one. I mean, this is just. It's so enduring. I don't see what I would take out or change in this movie.

Nic

I mean, I really don't see a lot of fat. It looks great. It's acted well.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And like a little additional credit for it for being like a Christmas movie that you can bust out in lieu of, you know, certain shit that you're sometimes forced to watch.

Nic

So, yeah, enjoyed it just as much on this go round. I love John Land Landis movies and this is a five out of five for me. This is just, it's so fun. If you haven't seen this for sure, see it and you can watch it any time of the year. Oh yeah, it's very satisfying.

Nic

It's, you know, there's certain dated stuff that you're not thrilled to, to see, but I mean, you know, it's 40 years old and I don't think it's like in a mean spirited way necessarily. Like the way that this stuff shows up is in a satirical way as opposed to like the actual point of view of the film. So five out of five for the boys. Trading Places. I loved it.

Nic

This was super fun. Steve, which you think?

Steve

Yeah, I mean, I think I'm almost where you're at. I think I'm quite there. It really is a ton of fun.

Steve

It, it, you know, highly recommend. I. You can't not recommend this movie. It's a fantastic movie. You know, I, to be totally honest, don't love seeing Ackroyd and blackface, even though I just a few minutes ago I was trying to kind of explain how it's not really Ackroyd, it's Winthorpe, you know, whatever.

Steve

But that's not ideal. I do think the majority of the, like, not the majority, vast majority of the kind of offensive pieces that are in it are like in a movie like Blazing Saddles. They are there to deliver, deliberately poke fun at and to point out, you know, that this is reality for some people and, or was at the time. And, and so there's that. Yeah, love this movie.

Steve

It's a ton of fun. I think I'm like a four and a half out of five. Not quite the five out of five for myself, but you know, this Trading Places, it's so great. And that's a nine and a half out of ten from us. Kind of almost can't get higher praise from the two dads.

Nic

But seriously, we.

Steve

Yeah, there you go. And.

Nic

Okay, well, that's our first installment of the dad calendar.

Steve

Love it.

Steve

Dadvent season.

Nic

And we got to open another door in this thing. Steve, that's going to be you, buddy. What do we got?

Steve

Next week we're going to.

Steve

Yeah. Crack open the next door on the Dadvent calendar and we're going to see a movie that is actually a personal favorite of my wife and I as Christmas movies. And we showed it. I saw it originally probably in college and then I showed it to her when we first started dating. Like the first Christmas we were together.

Steve

Like, have you seen this movie? She's like, no. And I'm like, oh, you got to watch it. Okay. She fell in love with it.

Steve

We showed it like a year later to her parents. They hated it. They could not stand it. My folks think this movie is funny, but her parents, my in laws, did not. It is a pure Christmas movie.

Steve

A lot more of an obvious Christmas movie than Trading Places is. Takes place only on Christmas Eve. Basically the entire episode, the entire movie takes place over the course of the day and evening of Christmas Eve set in the little town of Old Bay Brook in Connecticut. And it stars Dennis Leary, Kevin Spacy and the incomparable Judy Davis. We're gonna see the Ref, which is one of my favorite Christmas movies of the 90s.

Nic

I have never seen it. I'm excited to check this one out for the first time.

Steve

Yes. It's not. It's not maybe not the best Christmas movie ever, but it's one of those.

Steve

It's both has nostalgia for me and I think has a few pieces of just absolute peak mid-90s like fashion and home decor and different things that you can really pick on. So that'll be great.

Nic

Beautiful.

Steve

Yeah. Next week we will watch the Wrath.

Steve

That about wraps it up. So if you like what you hear, and we hope you do, please consider heading over to Apple or Spotify and leaving us a five star review. It really helps new folks find the show. If you want to drop us a line, share your thoughts on an episode, tell us what we got wrong, or suggest a movie we should do next time you can do so at the show@2dads1movie.com. That's the number two and the number one.

Steve

And by the way, 2dads1movie.com, we also have a website there.

Nic

You can go there. Really fun website.

Steve

It's got all kinds of connections between the films and the people that have been in the films and our ratings. And there's, there's stats.

Steve

There's just a whole bunch of stuff. And I'm going to keep asking, adding to it. So go check it out. You can also follow us on Instagram @2dads1movie. Once again, this has been Trading Places, another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie.

Steve

I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

Thank you so much for listening and we'll catch you next week.

Nic

Thanks, everyone.