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Coming to America Customer Reviews (16 - 18 of 38 Reviews)

this was another masterpiece 4 eddie
eddie was a rich foreign from africa who came 2 america to take home a beautiful home but he and his cousin sammy had a hard time finding a woman of his dreams so they both decided to stay and live as lower class citizens and work a job as every1 once da father from good times and roots 3 plays eddie murphy's dream girl daughter who is da boss of mc donald he hires eddie and sammy 2 work 4 him at his resturant this movie was a little funnier than bloomberg and almost even funnier than trading place this movie is a classic that should be watch as soon as possible Joe Brown

Great Supporting Characters - and some interesting twists along the way
"Coming to America" is a 1988 movie that has become an extremely popular movie on the cable channel circuit. Much of the reason for this popularity is it marked somewhat of a turning point in star Eddie Murphy's career. The turning point was that this became a movie that would widen Eddie's appeal among different audiences. Although there still is some foul-language in this movie, it surprisingly isn't Eddie Murphy's character who is dishing it out. While I wouldn't put "Coming to America" in the category of Eddie's "Family" movies of recent years (i.e. "The Nutty Professor", "Dr. Dolittle", "Daddy Day Care" and "The Haunted Mansion"), there still is less foul language than in previous Murphy movies. But overall, with a good cast of supporting characters, some nice spins, and an interesting setting for the story, this might be the best all-around movie that Eddie Murphy has done.

The premise of the story is as follows (this might be a spoiler): Eddie Murphy plays Prince Akeem, the sole heir to the throne of the fictitious African nation of Zamunda. The movie opens with Akeem facing an arranged marriage to a woman he has never met. Akeem immediately has doubts about marrying someone he has never met and tries to get his father, King Jaffe Joffer (played terrifically by James Earl Jones) to let him find his own bride. The King is convinced that Akeem needs to "Sow his wild oats" and agrees to postpone the wedding. Akeem has other ideas - he wants to travel someplace to go find a bride of his choosing. With his royal servant, Semmi (another great performance, this time by Arsenio Hall), Akeem decides to go to the United States to find a bride. In order to get someone who will care for him as a person rather than a prince, Akeem decides that he and Semmi will live as commoners (even though Semmi is a Servant, he apparently is used to the good life) as the settle into their new residence in Queens, New York. After some rough bumps, Akeem finds a woman named Lisa McDowell (played by Shari Headley) whom he feels would be his perfect bride. In an effort to pursue Lisa, Akeem decides that he and Semmi will get jobs at Lisa's father's Fast Food restaurant - McDowells (a "spin" on McDonalds that is spun brilliantly by the writers) in the guise of African Exchange Students. In Akeem's quest to win over Lisa, he faces many hurdles: Lisa has a boyfriend named Darryl Jenks (in another brilliant performance by Eriq La Salle); Lisa's father Cleo (in yet another brilliant performance by John Amos) whom he wants to his daughter to marry Darryl; Semmi whom despite being a servant is not acclimating to life as a poor Fast Food worker in Queens; and eventually Akeem's own Father whom will eventually get wind of his son's scheme.

There are also two interesting spins in this movie (and this may also be a spoiler). Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are going to play several other minor characters throughout the film. These performances, while not central to most of the storyline are very entertaining. Even if these minor characters were not a part of the film - and even if they weren't played by Murphy and Hall, this would still be a good movie. The other spin comes from a cameo appearance by the "Duke" brothers from a previous Eddie Murphy film, "Trading Spaces" (played by Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy). There is a very interesting spin how the Duke brothers cameo is worked into the movie. You will need to have seen "Trading Spaces" to understand how they spin this into the movie. If you have seen "Trading Spaces", you will realize how brilliantly this was done.

As mentioned above, there are some terrific supporting character performances. While Eddie is still brilliant in his role of Prince Akeem, the performances of Semmi (Arsenio Hall), King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Darryl Jenks (Eriq La Salle) and Cleo McDowell (John Amos) really stand out. In particular, I think John Amos delivers one of his best performances as Cleo. He comes across very believable as the "father" of Lisa - much of this due to the charm that Amos delivers to the character. The same thing can hold true for James Earl Jones - he seems perfect to play the role of the King (much due to his trademark voice). There are also two outstanding minor character performances. We see Samuel L. Jackson in one of his earliest roles do a brilliant job playing a gunman who attempts a holdup of the McDowell's restaurant. In another minor role, Louie Anderson plays one of the workers at the Fast Food restaurant. While I'm not the biggest Louie Anderson fan, every time that Louie was in a scene in "Coming to America", it was funny. I kind of wish they gave Louie more dialogue and fit him into the storyline of the movie. Another note, a young Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a boy getting a haircut.

Perhaps the only negative is the opening of the movie. I thought the first few minutes of the movie are drawn out. Once Akeem makes the decision to call off the wedding, that is where the action will pick up.

I also enjoyed the New York City and Queens setting of the movie. I think it helped the storyline and was almost a perfect contrast to the African Country of Zamunda.

Overall, this is a very good movie to see. It's the kind of movie you will definitely want to see more than once. Although this film appears on Cable television several times a year, the uncut version available on DVD is going to have so much more to offer. This is a highly recommended movie - whether this is your first time checking it out or whether you have seen it multiple times.

Coming to america
the prince wants to marry the one he loves, not by his money

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