COMING TO AMERICA (1988) *** Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair, Shari Headley, John Amos, Eriq La Salle, Louie Anderson. Murphy does a fine job as an African prince unhappy about his upcoming nuptials to a woman he has never met so he sets off to New York to find his true love (and queen) with some sweet moments as well as comic (thanks largely to his and Hall's neat hat trick of playing several different characters thanks to the miracle of Rick Baker's make up). Look sharply for Vondie Curtis Hall (of tv's "Chicago Hope") as an overly welcoming fellow native stateside; Cuba Gooding Jr. in a blink-and-you'll miss cameo (getting a haircut) and the clever inserting of Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy as the Randolph Brothers from Murphy's and director John Landis' previous joint effort "Trading Places". Best bit: Murphy becoming a real New Yorker and greeting a screaming abusive neighbor with "Yes! Yes! ... and F**K YOU TOO!!!"
Review of Coming to America
