Classic 80s Movie: “Coming to America”

Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Chris Neumann.

Movie Title: Coming To America

Year: 1988

Writers: Eddie Murphy (story), David Sheffield, Barry W. Blaustein (screenplay)

Lead Actors: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall

Director: John Landis

Plot Summary: An African prince goes to Queens, New York City to find a wife whom he can respect for her intelligence and will.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 80s Movies: It’s your seemingly traditional fairy tale, the prince going out into the world to seek a bride (similar to, say, the prince in Cinderella or shades of Prince and the Pauper), but this time it’s a noble African prince visiting contemporary New York (different!).

It isn’t the trappings of kingdoms and princes that we fall in love with though, it’s that feeling that we can start over and get things right this time. We all know how to find a girlfriend or boyfriend (actually, we all have an idea of how to do it, I don’t think anyone actually KNOWS how to get one) but with this sort of story, we get to vicariously unlearn that, shed off all our baggage and try from a more pure, innocent point. Our prince tries to find his wife in Queens: how much more innocent and earnest can you get? And then we have the idealistic perspective of everything, the world seems fresh and new and is approached differently than before. The culture shock/wide-eyed tourist approach allows for this to happen and to feel more natural.

So much of the strength of the movie comes from how genuine and heartfelt everything feels. Even in the crummy 80s, it embraces the grand dream of America. The fact that royalty would come to America because it held promise that his own country didn’t, that’s powerful stuff, that appeals to that little patriotic ember inside us that frankly doesn’t get stoked often enough. And the idea of possibility, of seemingly endless possibility and freedom that our characters can just take advantage of, that gets us excited. Something that I think we’ll see being pretty common in movies in the 80s is this sense of potential, this might be because of the go-go Reagan re-energization of America that was going on after Carter’s “malaise,” but there was that feel of being free and able to take advantage, to go out and actually DO something big, attempt great things. “Let’s do this.”

The characters all feel so distinct. Even the minor ones have their own quirks and motivations, making this New York feel fleshed out and lived in. Not real, perhaps, but interesting. Every actor has something different and interesting to do, and that’s just actor bait. Is it really that surprising that Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall would want to take on multiple parts?

Eddie Murphy’s Akeem is, to steal a phrase, “a jetstream of positive energy.” This adventure is clearly the first true fun he’s had in his life, every action he takes down to mopping the floors and taking out the trash broadcast this loud and clear, and he’s so excited to do it, his energy is infectious. Lisa tells him as much when they finally go on their date.

Prince Akeem could easily fall into the trap of the “poor little rich kid,” how could anyone with everything possibly be unhappy? Well, one of the first things they show us is that he can’t even go to the bathroom by himself. “Wipers!” We’re immediately as uncomfortable as he is, right away we’re on his side. And his arranged wife? Beautiful but mindless and uninteresting, she’s seen as an object (and described as such, if you listen to her introduction song), not a person. No one that anyone could be expected to fall in love with. Akeem rejects everyone else’s ideal and looks for what will make him happy. And when he sees Lisa for the first time, it’s not love at first sight, it’s love at first sound: she’s smart, responsible, and opinionated. This is something that’s been denied to Akeem his whole life, not out of spite, but because no one thought to present that option. It’s also a type of love interest we don’t seem to get nearly often enough in the movies these days.

Semmi is Akeem’s best friend, though their relationship strains near the end, there’s clearly a strong, old relationship between them. They’re comfortable enough to speak their minds to each other (when others in the kingdom wouldn’t dare), but at the same time, Semmi clearly loves his position where he has access to this gilded lifestyle. How could he not? Anyone who had a richer friend than themselves as a kid knows where he’s coming from, and yet it doesn’t become one dimensional. That clash of selfishness vs friendship drives his actions throughout the entire flick, and he’s a richer character for it. Most of the time when we get the “best friend/advisor” role in a romantic comedy, it’s just a flat character or quirky sounding board, just there to give the right advice at the right moment. Semmi has his own (emotional) baggage to deal with, and actually gives Akeem nothing but the wrong advice the entire time.

In so many movies (see any Nicholas Sparks adaptation), the parent hates the love interest for no reason. John Amos’ character, the father — his motivations make perfect sense. He likes Akeem, but he wants his daughter to marry above her station, wants her to do better than he did. What parent wouldn’t?

The McDowell’s restaurant itself informs so much of the father’s character as well. It tells us that McDowell is independent and made his own fortune himself, which Akeem respects. However, it’s intentionally derivative shows how opportunistic and shrewd the character is, we can imagine how he’ll react when he discovers Akeem’s regality. You wouldn’t have this effect if it was a real chain restaurant, or a regular family-owned place. There’s an intentional dynastic element to it, the restaurant (and potential franchise) is the father’s legacy. And if you’re able, check out the special features on the Blu-Ray, where they go into detail about all the life imitating art problems they had with the McDowell’s location.

We all have our definitions of a classic movie, but I would guess that a common requirement is characters we want to spend time with. Coming to America passes that test because of the talented cast of actors but also because almost every character has their own stuff. I’m pretty sure everyone who speaks gets one big laugh, one moment that’s all them that they can boast about. Not only does that give you happy actors, but there’s a great cumulative effect of all these moments one after another after another. And while this is a high-concept movie, it’s the characters that keep that premise moving. You can’t just have a great idea, you have to have great execution, and this movie has great execution because it was put together so well. Like a clock, all the gears fit and work with each other.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: How do you pick a favorite moment from this movie?

Is it the montage scene where Akeem and Semmi chat up all the strange, scary women in the bar? Well, it leads to a great surprise cameo at the end, but… it’s mostly utilitarian.

Is it where Samuel L Jackson robs the store? That’s great for retroactive recognition, but it’s pretty straightforward and actually kind of short. It’s an interruption of another scene.

Is it the scene on the subway where Akeem tries to get the girl back? Maybe. Although this scene always stuck out to me. Perhaps because it’s the most direct and honest scene, and it also takes place in a location we don’t see anywhere else in the movie.

How about the scene where the two cultures clash for the first time? That’s got to be it. A scene where the mood can be summed up in four lines: “What is this, velvet?”

King Joffe and his royal entourage arrive in New York City, inadvertently summoned by Semmi’s message (and Semmi’s reaction to their arrival in New York is also priceless). Is it the funniest scene in the movie? Maybe not. But it’s dang important, and it’s probably the first scene that comes to mind when I think of the movie. Perhaps because of that very line.

It’s a promise: not just that there’s going to be trouble, but that we’re going to have so much fun seeing King Joffe deal with New Yorkers. It’s a breath of fresh air, just when we get our heroes adjusted to New York life, we get a new outsider and we know that sparks are going to fly, not just with the King and his son, but everything that Akeem has built will come tumbling down.

We also haven’t had a chance to see Joffe as someone to be afraid of yet. So far in the movie he was a nice, almost infantile presence, but now we’re seeing him as stern and strict. Akeem couldn’t really reason with him back when he was in a good mood. Now? Forget it. It gives us an interesting new facet to the character that we can experience.

On top of all that, when you think back to the fundamental premise of the film, a Prince in New York City, well, there’s only two ways to play that: under the radar and over the top. Normally, once you pick a direction, that’s it, but now with Joffe we get to see both.

And after the scene, when Akeem gets back to his place, he sees the flower petals still strewn on the ground. Now, we might have missed them being thrown on the ground (as our attention might have been focused on that giant lion on Joffe’s jacket), but because we had that whole exchange at the beginning, not only do we understand what the petals mean, we also have that symbolic meaning, it’s his old regal life creeping back in.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: It’s such a quotable movie (“YES! FUCK YOU TOO!”) but if you want to pick one exchange from the whole thing…

Akeem: When I marry, I want the woman to love me for who I am, not because of what I am.
King Jaffe: And who are you?
Akeem: I am a man who has never tied his own shoes before!
King Jaffe: Wrong. You are a PRINCE who has never tied his shoes. Believe me, I tied my own shoes once… it is an overrated experience.

Silly and succinct. The little exchange tells us so much about Akeem, from his perspective on identity and self-worth, his motivations, and his desires, and his father’s regal cluelessness. It’s really amazing how James Earl Jones can mix regality and an almost infantile mentality so flawlessly. But it’s also a fine example of how perfectly suited comedy is for exposition, it’s very easy to slip information to us under the guise of a joke.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: There are wonderfully subtle rhyming moments in the film. When Akeem and Semmi find their bags have been stolen and everyone in the neighborhood now had their trinkets, on the surface it reads as a simple joke, but it foreshadows the positive influence that Akeem has on the people in his life. The scene where Eric LaSalle takes credit for a Akeem’s anonymous donation? A call ahead to Semmi pretending to be the Prince for his own benefit. And the banquet scene, where the kingdom has gathered to celebrate Akeem’s wedding is flipped when we go to the Black Awareness rally, and see all the people in the community gather to help those who actually need it.

The more technical fans might notice that there are no optical/green screen/motion camera effects in the scenes where Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall played multiple characters (as opposed to Back To The Future II, which did it quite expertly). All those scenes are doubles and specific camera angles, it’s all in the editing, so the eye isn’t registering these scenes as anything special — which makes them all the more special.

There’s also fantastic production design in the film, from the picturesque African kingdom of Zamunda (literally picturesque, from murals on all the walls to gorgeous matte paintings of the exteriors), to the artwork in the McDowell household. After we see the Soul Glo commercial, which establishes how prominent Daryl is, we start seeing reminders of it all over the place, there’s a little card for it in the barber shop, there’s that giant billboard facing the McDowell’s restaurant, and it doesn’t just establish this brand’s credibility in the movie world, it also acts like Daryl’s royal portrait. Akeem is in HIS kingdom when he’s in New York, and those images start to pop up less often as Akeem’s relationship with Lisa improves. You’ll notice that Akeem’s royal portrait in the museum pops up about the same time as Joffe’s motorcade arrives. Not a coincidence.

Thanks, Chris! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

Tomorrow: We have one more classic 80s movie to cap off the series, absolutely one of the greatest movies of the decade. See you in 2014 for that!

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