- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
-
4 out of 5
This blatant, unacknowledged reworking of The Prince and the Pauper is a rattling comedy showcase for the unique talents of Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, who have seldom recaptured the form they show here. However, there's no question that the acting honours go to veterans Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy, as the mischievous business bigwigs whose wager brings about the respective rise and fall of a lowlife conman (Murphy) and a pompous broker (Aykroyd). Jamie Lee Curtis also makes quite an impression as a kind-hearted hooker and proved that there was more to her than screaming and running away from slash-happy psychopaths. Director John Landis tends to pull his satirical punches against yuppiedom, and it's a shame that he settles for a brash slapstick finale after so many fresh, immaculately timed comic situations, but this remains very entertaining.
Plot Summary
Two billionaire brothers engineer the downfall of a high-flying stockbroker, while giving a homeless conman all the advantages of wealth, as part of a bet to see whether heredity or upbringing determines character. Comedy, starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche and Denholm Elliott.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Billy Ray Valentine
- Eddie Murphy
- Louis Winthorpe III
- Dan Aykroyd
- Ophelia
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Randolph Duke
- Ralph Bellamy
- Mortimer Duke
- Don Ameche
- Coleman
- Denholm Elliott
- Beeks
- Paul Gleason
- Pawnbroker
- Bo Diddley
- King Kong
- James Belushi
- Penelope
- Kristin Holby
- Whittington
- Alfred Drake
- Policeman
- Frank Oz
- Heritage club doorman
- P Jay Sidney
- Ezra
- Avon Long
- Officer Pantuzzi
- Tom Mardirosian
- Officer Reynolds
- Charles Brown
- Todd
- Robert Curtis-Brown
- Harry
- Nicholas Guest
- Andrew
- John Bedford-Lloyd
Crew
- Director
- John Landis
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