A Matter of Life and Laughs
in for observation Starring Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Ned Beatty, Obba Babatunde, Bernie Mac, Rick James. Directed by Ted Demme. Rated R.
Okay, here's the deal. You really gotta wonder sometimes exactly what drives Eddie Murphy. I mean, Eddie plays "hit and miss" better than David Carridine in Death Race 2000. He can pop up with a major hit like The Nutty Professor , follow it with an okay vehicle like Dr. Dolittle , spark a winning vocal performance in Mulan , and go belly up and freeze-dried in Holy Man. His track record looks like the stock market graph in one of those Asian countries, and, yet, he's still considered to be a major player in the business.
Rightly so, I guess. If nothing else, Eddie can get you a big opening weekend, and, if it dwindles after that, you'll still get some overflow from the die-hards who remember him as one of the funniest stand-up comedians of the past thirty years. He's one of the few SNL alumni that hasn't melted down after running away from home. Unlike his buddy Joe Piscopo (who?), Eddie has prevailed. But, it's always a crapshoot when you go see Eddie in a movie. Which one are you gonna get? The funny one, the lame one, or the one that looks like he's almost sorry he's onscreen?
The new Eddie Murphy movie | |
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