Trading Places
John Landis was a legendary director who had already done a number of comedy classics before he added a little extra edge to his work: making classic comedies that also featured insane, over the top action sequences utilizing extensive stuntwork (most notably The Blues Brothers). That all ended with his work on Twilight Zone: The Movie when character actor Vic Morrow and two children (whom legally should never have been working on set since it was a late night shoot) were tragically killed when a helicopter crashed on top of them, beheading them in the process as well. Landis would be tried for manslaughter and acquitted despite the continued questions to this day as to why Morrow was directly in the line of fire and not a stuntman of some kind, but almost immediately afterwards (yet before the trial) Landis was on to his next project, obviously so shaken by the experience that helming a straight up comedy with no action elements seemed to be the prudent way to go with this 1983 release. It was certainly a prestige project, originally intended to star Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor and when they dropped out, we got the not too shabby duo of Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, both of whom were SNL alumni (although from two different eras) and also two guys who each had fascinating careers teamed up here in their prime: Aykroyd has long been known as being a guy who wanted to be able to write and direct his own work without any interference (as he wrote the original scripts for Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters) only to be constantly shut down in that regard for having a far too dark and twisted vision of comedy (as it was said to be during the old SNL pitch meetings where many of his ideas were either rejected or revised) only to settle into more of a groove as a working comedy actor of the 80s (but make no mistake he still remains one of the greatest performers of that era). Murphy on the other hand was an entirely different situation, a shooting star on SNL from day one in 1980 straight into his film debut (in a lead role) in 1982’s 48 Hrs where he displayed the perfect amount of confidence and swagger opposite veteran co star Nick Nolte, so this teamup with Aykroyd was definitely being looked at as his natural next step to superstardom. But a look down the cast list reveals an even more popular dynamic: Don Ameche (in what was actually at that time his first acting performance in 13 years) and Ralph Bellamy were two of the grand old men of oldtime Hollywood royalty going back to the 1930s, but here they were cast in perhaps their most famous roles: Randolph and Mortimer Duke, two filthy rich commodities brokers (and rotten human beings to boot) who run their own investment firm where Aykroyd’s Louis Winthrope happens to be their rising star, analyzing various stocks’ potential and advising them on whether or not they should hedge their bets in that competitive world. Bellamy’s Randolph has also been reading up on genetics and how they determine one’s acumen and ability, ultimately siding with the idea that environment (especially a positive one) can compel anyone to succeed, a position that Ameche’s Mortimer disagrees with. Since two such obviously cruel, wealthy old men as they are have little else to do with their time in order to amuse themselves, they decide to use their wealth and influence to completely upend Aykroyd’s life, keeping in mind that despite Aykroyd living in the lap of luxury in his own right, The Dukes actually own his home, belongings and even his butler (Denholm Elliot) since apparently they were all perks of his employment to begin with before ruthlessly pulling the plug on all of it, even saddling Aykroyd with a phony drug possession charge which gets him thrown out of his bank and the Freemason style lodge they all belong to leaving him practically homeless so that they can replace him with another street person whom they can bring into their world. That person would be Murphy’s Billy Ray Valentine, first seen pretending to be blind and legless to increase his chances at panhandling and encountering the other three men in the process, but after being given Aykroyd’s home, belongings and butler, is brought into the fold at The Dukes’ commodities firm where he has his hand held while being nurtured and taught the finer points of making money without contributing anything at all worthwhile to society, the art of stock brokering and figuring out just when and where to put your money on various items of value in order to make the most profit possible. It goes without saying that The Dukes are dirty players when it comes to this kind of game, engaging in insider trading involving corporate spies and industrial espionage, a practice that certainly will trip them up in the end. The brilliance of Ameche and Bellamy as The Dukes is that the movie is not afraid to depict them as being nasty, cheap, condescending and even racist, but the two old pros sink their teeth into these bad guy roles with substantial relish, making them a pair of lovable old rogues as opposed to a couple of unlikable bastards whom we couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with, much less watch onscreen, with Ameche edging out slightly ahead as being the funnier of the two (but only slightly). In fact, their popularity as 80s comedy villains was so profound that Landis actually found a way to work them back into the mix in one of his later films, managing to turn 1988’s Coming To America into an unexpected sequel much to the joy of this movie’s fanbase. Meanwhile, Murphy is working his way to the top of the brokerage firm’s ladder (much to Bellamy’s delight and Ameche’s consternation since he had bet against him) while the now homeless and destitute Aykroyd has managed to find his way into the arms of a sweet and loving hooker played by Jamie Lee Curtis, with HER role here also being of major cinematic importance. This not only represented Curtis’ breakout into the mainstream after her star making turn in Halloween followed by a string of low budget horror movies, it also saw her go topless onscreen for the first time (and one of the very few times) but her Ophelia brings a nice down to Earth contrast not only to Aykroyd’s overblown sense of shock over his displacement, but also to Murphy’s suave dealings with The Dukes, who are really such repellent figures that even after they have proven their little “theory” are still planning to send Murphy back to the streets and even worse, have decided to not even bother to rightfully pull the necessary strings to restore Aykroyd to his old existence, choosing instead to leave him wallowing in the gutter forevermore. It is only when Murphy by chance happens to find out their little scheme that he forms an alliance with Aykroyd, Curtis and Elliot’s butler (whom truth be told had despised being made to go along with The Dukes’ “experiment” but had regrettably done so in order to avoid getting the same treatment). The plan? To intercept an illegally obtained agriculture report so that it can be switched out and then they could corner the market while The Dukes dig their own grave doing the exact opposite. It all involves some (rather poorly done) subterfuge on a train and cameos by Jim Belushi, Al Franken and Tom Davis (all of whom are funny) and a fateful encounter with a gay gorilla before The Dukes meet their Waterloo on the floor of The New York Stock Exchange. Landis certainly excelled at sticking strictly to comedy here without any stunt filled theatrics while Aykroyd (seriously underrated when it comes to his 80s comedy legacy) and Murphy hold up their ends just fine even as they concede the acting honors to the two old legends who are filling the roles of their adversaries…
8/10