Trading Places stars Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy and was directed by John Landis. It was Murphy’s second blockbuster in a row (after 48 Hours) and provided Aykroyd with a much-needed boost in popularity, as his post-SNL career (Blues Brothers notwithstanding) seemed to be floundering, Trading Places was released on June 8, 1983 and placed third at the box office that weekend after Superman 3 and Return of the Jedi. I rented it on iTunes.
From IMDB:
Louis Winthorpe III is a successful Philadelphia commodity broker with mansion, manservant and girlfriend to match. Billy Ray Valentine is a hustling beggar. Winthorpe’s employers, the elderly Duke brothers, make a bet that by switching the lifestyle of the two Billy Ray will make good and their man will take to a life of crime. Suddenly Louis finds himself uncomprehendingly with no job, no home and only a new acquaintance, glamorous hooker Ophelia, prepared to help him. So at least in one way things could actually be worse. – Written by Jeremy Perkins <jwp@aber.ac.uk>
I hadn’t watched this film in a number of years, and I’m pretty sure that I’ve only ever seen the “edited for television” version. I certainly don’t remember seeing Jamie Lee Curtis’ breasts, and holy crap are there a ton of uncomfortable racial jokes (Dan Aykroyd in black face, anyone?) I imagine that this film was pretty edgy in its day, and to me it’s a prime example how different Hollywood was in the 80s. This was a time when studios didn’t sacrifice the quality of a film in order to get a PG rating to appeal to a broader audience. They weren’t afraid of the hard “R” rating, and hoo boy does this movie need it!
I’m not sure why we need to see a topless Jamie Lee Curtis multiple times in this movie. Did the producers say to themselves, “Well, we’re gonna get an R anyway, let’s see her boobs!” Or maybe she volunteered to do it in an attempt to break free of the “teen virgin” stereotype that she must have had at the time due to her string of roles in low budget horror films of the late 70s and early 80s. If so, it worked, this film would cement her into Hollywood mainstream for the rest of her career.
I really loved how this film makes fun of the uber-rich. The Dukes, Winthorpe’s girlfriend Penelope, his “friends” from the club, ALL of them seem like spoiled children with silly customs and traditions.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0CEJQ79Fao]
Although this film has a lot of Christmas in it, it gets pretty dark at times. I mean, Aykroyd’s Winthorpe even tries to kill himself. Multiple times.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od4nSd9AVH8]
Once Winthorpe and Valentine figure out what the Dukes have done, the climax seems to come really quickly (that’s what she said!) and its a bit confusing. I still don’t understand what happens on the stock exchange floor at the end, but the shots of the Twin Towers were pretty surreal. I actually saw a sculpture in one shot that I saw on display in Battery Park, mangled from the destruction of 9/11.
Anyway, this is a very entertaining film, a lot of fun to watch. It doesn’t really carry a Christmas-like message or anything like that, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Next up: Bad Santa.
