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Boomerang Customer Reviews (10 - 12 of 22 Reviews)

A marvelous blend of the "old" and the "new"
Besides painting a satisfying portrait of "upwardly mobile profesional black Americans," "Boomerang" is an appealing look at the oft-times amusing and tumultuous struggle between the sexes. Eddie Murphy, who served as producer, is wonderful as the "player" who gets his comeupance from a female equal, in the well-proportioned form of Robin Givens.

A stellar cast that features legends Eartha Kitt and Geoffrey Holder, then up-and-comers Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, and a pre-Oscar Halle Berry, established performers like Lela Rochon, Tisha Campbell, and David Allen Grier, and an over-the-top Grace Jones makes this a classic in the truest sense of the term.

Watch the film with director Reginald Hudlin's commentary. He provides colorful insight into the pivotal use of New York locations, costuming, casting concerns, the importance of background music, film economics, and unintentional social commentary. Many times the director's "chat" is dull; that cannot be said for the words of this talented young man.

"Boomerang," like the word implies, is a film that warrants "return" visits.


Murhy's Best Work, EVER!
Simply put, Eddie Murphy has made some critical errors in judgement with films. This is an exception. A grown up comedy with wit, style, grace, and even some class to boot. An all-star cast (Martin Lawerence, Robin Givens, Halle Barry, David Allen Grier, Eartha Kitt, and a very, very young Chris Rock) highlight a well written, well directed comedy that has heart and soul. Also features a great soundtrack.

Almost a classic, but still a good movie
Boomerang is a good film. Eddie Murphy is at the top of his game here, and the Hudlin Brothers fresh off "House Party" do a good job writing and producing their second film. Unfortunately, what make the movie fall flat are the lackluster performances of the supporting cast. Even though it's not as good as the Classic Beverly Hills Cop or Coming To America, it's still one of my favorite movies.
Eddie Murphy is great as Marcus the womanizing executive. He's a dog who is soon to have his day when he runs afoul of Robin Givens. Sadly, this is where the story starts to fall apart. Murphy and Givens just don't have the onscreen chemistry to make this romantic comedy work. That's not Robin Givens fault at all. One of biggest flaws of Boomerang is the screenplay and its poorly written female characters. None of the actresses had anything to work with here, since most of the female characters were extremely underdeveloped. With a stronger script I think Robin Givens would have been able to hold her own with Murphy. Halle Berry is sweet here as the office good girl who helps Marcus change his misogynistic ways. David Alan Grier is the "Nice Guy" and Marin Lawrence is hilarious stealing every scene he's in. It's a shame the story gets lost in all the stargazing, because it truly is a great premise.
That's the other weak spot Boomerang has: the Casting. There are just too many stars here and that prevents the viewer from seeing the characters in the story. For all you stargazers, there are appearances by Lela Rochon, Tisha Campbell, John Witherspoon, Geoffrey Holder, (7up man for you 80's kids) Grace Jones, Chris Rock, and Ertha Kitt. And that's the main problem here with Boomerang: No one blends seamlessly into the background of the film and becomes characters the way the supporting actors did in Coming To America. Worse, because there is no synergy among the actors onscreen most of the performances of the supporting cast are flat and uninspired. No one shares any chemistry with Eddie Murphy or each other onscreen. Everybody seems to be just doing "Their Thing." I remember watching this film in the theatres back in 1992 and most of the audience was pointing their fingers at the screen calling out actor names. That really ruined the movie for me back then.
I think Boomerang had the potential to be a true classic. With a little tweaking to the screenplay and some unknowns cast in some of the smaller supporting roles this film could have actualized the potential of the wonderful premise. With it's flaws, it's still a wonderful movie that shows what a group of talented African-American filmmakers, producers and actors can do if given an opportunity to make a movie.

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