Film Critique of:
Coming to America
After
watching the 1988 film “Coming to America” directed by John Landis I was
pleasantly surprised. I was looking for a funny, late 80s movie to compare the
humor and production techniques to that of modern day comedies. My final
results were much different then I though they would be. A brief summary of the
film will put some of my opinions into context. I will continue with analyzing
some of the films elements and how they were conveyed throughout the film.
Finishing the critique I will describe how the director was able to use the
films elements in a way that worked for this film.
The
opening scene of Coming to America starts with the main character, Prince
Akeem, played by Eddie Murphy, waking up on his 21st birthday. Akeem
is the prince of a fictitious African country and has every part of his daily
life done for him. Even though he is pampered with rose petals before he walks
anywhere, has his clothes put on for him, his teeth brushed, even his rear end
whipped for him when he uses the bathroom, he is tired of his extravagant
lifestyle. Being that he is now 21, his parents are forcing him to be married
even if he is not ready. Akeem tells his parents he would like to travel to
America to find a wife and live a normal life. Akeem along with his friend and
loyal servant, travel to Queens, New York to find the cheapest most low rent
housing possible. They then get a job at a local fast food restaurant and start
out as cleaning attendants. Akeem meets the restaurant owner’s daughter and
starts to fall in love with her even though she is involved with another man.
Akeem is successful in winning her heart without her knowing that he is a
prince. When Akeem’s father, king of their nation, shows up unannounced to find
what wife Akeem has chosen, Akeem’s secret gets out. Akeem’s love finds out he
is lying to her she runs away to try and escape Akeem, his family, and his
money. But just as in every love movie the man chases after the girl, which
happens to be a subway train, and pronounces his love to her. Akeem then takes
his new lover back to his home country and marries the woman of his dreams. The
premise of this movie is you have to look to find true love and sometimes you
have to take yourself out of your element to discover it.
There
are many key elements of this film I would like to address. I will start with
the ones I don’t like and continue on with the ones that I did like. The acting
was nothing out of the ordinary. It was a late 1980s comedy with mediocre actors
besides the great Eddie Murphy; who played several roles through out the film.
This has come to be what seems like Mr. Murphy’s famous callings. Being able to
play multiple characters but all be in the same scene together. In the various
characters he did play he did a good comedic job but it wasn’t anything he is
going to win an Oscar for. As for
the other characters they were believable but again, not great. As for the
cinematography, it was somewhat like the acting. Just mediocre! There was a
mixture of close ups and long shots that kept the plot physically moving
forward but it was not a ground breaking performance at all. The lighting was
low lit and however I was able to always see the characters perfectly fine, it
wasn’t anything special. I understand why these parts were probably not the
most important part of the film because I feel like they were making a comedy.
It does not have to have amazingly beautiful and colorful cinematography and
the actors don’t have to be the best either. I believe the focus was on the
soundtrack, the costumes, and the set.
In
addition to the things I did not like I was happily surprised with some other
elements of the film. One of the first things I really liked about the film was
the set/setting. At first it looks cheesy and you can immediately tell that it
was made in a Hollywood studio and was not shot on some exotic location. But
when you really start to notice the imagination and craftsmanship of the set
its really quite interesting. For example in the beginning of the movie, it
shows Prince Akeem’s massive and extremely lavish home. It starts in his
bedroom where all the walls are beautifully painted and the floor a extravagant
marble. What really got me was all of the frosted glass with pictures of birds
and other animals in them. Also around the rest of his home everything is
painted with wall murals and christened with hanging chandeliers. The rest of
the movie is mostly set in the fast food restaurant where Akeem and his friend
worked, which had a surprising resemblance to a McDonald’s restaurant. It is
also set in their apartment, which starts with blood on the walls and rats
running through the apartment (which is what Akeem wanted) and then is fixed up
into a “bachelor pad” with all the newest technology and a full hot tub in the
living room. Although it seemed just modern I though it took some creativity to
think to put a hot tub in a low rent Queens apartment. I also thought the
costumes for the movie were wonderful! I did think sometimes that Akeem and his
family in their wealthy royal clothing was over the top, but then again I think
it was designed that way to be comical. Prince Akeem and his father would both
wear whole skinned dead animals over their shoulders or extremely large gold
chains. However, in the beginning of the movie there is a ceremony held for
Akeem for his 21st birthday where he is to meet his wife that he is
suppose to have an arranged marriage with. Before the bride to be is shown for
the first time she has a large group of talented African dancers choreograph a
sophisticated ritual dance before her entrance. I was very impressed with the
dance but I though the costumes of the dancers was the real gem. They were
wearing beautiful feathered headdresses with decorated tops and loincloths. These
costumes may not have been culturally correct but it was extremely entertaining
to watch and added to the over all effect of the scene. Over all what impressed
me the most was the soundtrack. Various artists composed the music but some of
it was extremely well written. It really surprised me to be honest. There was
some music that was used from the modern day but most of it was symphony
orchestrated. Because it was about a man coming from Africa, most of the music
had heavy bongo drums and a thick beat with a groovy jungle feel to it. I
believe it really helped the movie get through some certain scenes.
So,
how well did the director, John Landis, put all of these elements together to
create a good film? In my opinion I think he did a good job. This film was not
trying to be the best film of the year by any means. It was meant to be a
comedy, and that’s exactly what it was. Although it is slightly different
comedy from today’s standards it is still a funny movie. Compared to the movies
of its time like Mel Brooks ‘Spaceballs,’ Ivan Reitman’s ‘Ghostbusters’ movies,
and the ‘Back to the Future’ films its different in many ways. Eddie Murphy has
a bit more vulgar comedy then most but that added to the film. Also different
from the other comedies with their elaborate plots of fighting ghosts, going
back in time, or space adventures ‘Coming to America’ was something simple that
people could relate to. This movie exemplified something that a lot of people
have experienced in their lives, moving to a new place and dealing with the
language barriers and culture differences. Most people have experienced this is
someway or another and that is another element that only added to the film.
In
conclusion I believe that John Landis did a good job directing Coming to
America. He utilized a great actor (Eddie Murphy) that could play multiple
roles, made it relatable to the general public, kept the plot simple, while at
the same time investing more time in the soundtrack, costumes, and set to
finish off a great comedy.
