MovieChat Forums > Harlem Nights (1989) Discussion > This and Boomerang 'Ruined' Eddies Caree...

This and Boomerang 'Ruined' Eddies Career.

posted 15 years ago by zeeke
18 replies | jump to latest

Personally those are in my opinion two of his best movies, however they are also the two first movies he had a big creative input into that, for want of a better word, "bombed" I think its obvious to see how the reaction to both movies effected him. He gave up on creating and became a powerful jobing actor, because whats the point if he's gonna bust his ass and not get ANY apreiciation for the efort. I dont think the two movies I mentioned are masterpeices but I do think they were harshly judged. He was torn to peices by the critics when these movies were released, now he doesnt care what the critics say and he makes a profit with every movie, and good for him I say. just wish he do stand up again.

"...I'm a contradiction"

[–] rlong3404 15 years ago

I thought this movie really served Eddie's career as well. It was released right after the classic "Coming to America" and Eddie was at the top of his game to where anything he put out would have been a box office extravaganza. Could you imagine him doing a film like "The Golden Child" now? It would go down the toilet along with "pluto nash" and "norbit" just to name a few.

I feel that "Harlem Nights" and "Boomerang" were among his recent best films. Maybe the Richard Pryor flick will bring him some of that "Dreamgirls" respect he briefly had before he shattered it with a handful of forgettable kids movies (besides Shrek).

[–] Doom 14 years ago

I don't get it. I still like The Golden Child.

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Wait a minute... who am I here?

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ALTheGreatS 13 years ago

@rlong3404

Actually, Marlon Wayans has supposedly been chosen for the role of Pryor in his Biopic.

"Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."

[–] abajasds 13 years ago

The best Eddie Murphy movie were:

Harlem Nights
Coming To America
Trading Places
The Distinguish Gentleman
Life
Beverly Hills Cop
Nutty Professor

No specific order

Others that were okay

Nutty Professor: The Klumps
Golden Child
Boomerang
Vampire In Brooklyn

My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] abajasds 13 years ago

I never seen "Bowfinger", but his movie career in my opinion went down around 2000. His last decent movie was "The Nutty Professor: The Klumps".

My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather

[–] MovieMusings 10 years ago

I'd bump up Boomerang - every time I see it, it gets funnier.

And, definitely see Bowfinger - Eddie is amazing.

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I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd.

[–] blaque108 10 years ago

I like Boomerang that is one of his best movies and then Harlem Nights I hear most people talk about Harlem Nights and I was watching the movie today and I was laughing so hard this movie is funny and I see why people like it.

[–] Sdeegz 10 years ago

I disagree - I just watched this movie tonight for the first time since I saw it in the theatre. I agree with a lot of those who commented - it was marketed as a comedy, you would think with this incredible cast you'd be rolling in the aisles. Tonight I watched it with no expectations and really enjoyed it.
Loved Boomerang from the first time I watched it, love it now. As someone else said - I loved the Golden Child.
It was Norbit & Pluto Nash that did him in - could never sit through them. I think he had to be contractually obligated to do those. He was a money making machine for the studios and they ruined it for him.

[–] zeeke 10 years ago

You should read my opening post again, I didn't say they were bad movies, I said there were responsible for the down turn in quality of his movies, after trying so hard with these two he stopped caring

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] stanleyhetz 10 years ago

Personally those are in my opinion two of his best movies, however they are also the two first movies he had a big creative input into that, for want of a better word, "bombed" I think its obvious to see how the reaction to both movies effected him. He gave up on creating and became a powerful jobing actor, because whats the point if he's gonna bust his ass and not get ANY apreiciation for the efort. I dont think the two movies I mentioned are masterpeices but I do think they were harshly judged. He was torn to peices by the critics when these movies were released, now he doesnt care what the critics say and he makes a profit with every movie, and good for him I say. just wish he do stand up again.

I don't remember Boomerang (1992) well enough to comment on that movie, but this was one of his best films.

[–] zeeke 10 years ago

I agree

[–] MaGuFu_Day 9 years ago

His character as Jiff in Bowfinger was good (guess he reminds me of a couple of relatives).

Harlem Knights has some chuckles, but this wasn't a good heist movie.

Giving you true posts since 2001"Toot toot"-Charles Doyle Haas

[–] tiffanykk2002 8 years ago

This is true. Even though these are great movies (especially Boomerang), many audiences liked seeing the street-wise Eddie, as opposed to more suave and sophisticated characters. Eddie, to me, is funny in everything he's in. But for some, they've only wanted to see him doing a certain type of comedy, which is a shame.

[–] suebob-28169 8 years ago

IMO, another movie to add to the "Okay" list was Dr. Doolittle. It was fun to see him interact with animals.

Along the way Eddie did receive an Oscar nomination for Dreamgirls. Apparently there were also some opinions when The Nutty Professor came out that Eddie could have received a nomination for this film if it had been a bit more serious and didn't have the over the top humor.

[–] TMC-4 7 years ago

Here’s Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert’s review of Harlem Nights:
http://siskelandebert.org/video/K2DU7O3XX1UB/Harlem-Nights-The-Little-Mermaid-Steel-Magnolias-1989

At the end, Ebert says that even though Eddie Murphy is the number one box office star in America circa 1989, sooner or later, his reputation isn’t going to be enough to carry “turkeys” like Harlem Nights (which Siskel speculated that Murphy did mostly out of ego). Ebert added that while Murphy is a genuinely talented actor, unless he’s willing to take a few chances, he runs the risk of sabotaging his career before getting a chance to do the really “good stuff” that he’s capable of.

Both Siskel and Ebert complained about the foul language (which they felt was out of tune w/ the time period for which Harlem Nights took place), racism, and misogyny.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19891117/REVIEWS/911170302