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Trading Places

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Trading Places (1983)

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Reviews Counted:36

Fresh:32

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.2/10

Consensus: Featuring deft interplay between Eddie Murphy and Dan Dan Aykroyd, Trading Places is an immensely appealing social satire.

Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: In this screwball comedy of manners, millionaire commodity brokers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager a bet that pits environment vs. biology and turns the lives of... In this screwball comedy of manners, millionaire commodity brokers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager a bet that pits environment vs. biology and turns the lives of their two unsuspecting victims upside down. Eddie Murphy costars as Billy Ray Valentine, a streetwise hustler who gets dragged off the street and into the proper life of top Duke Bros. broker Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd), who in turn gets tossed out of his posh townhouse and onto the mean city streets. The comic team of Murphy and Aykroyd is deliriously funny as they both struggle to comprehend their new lives. Billy Ray is forced to learn proper etiquette, manners, and business sense while uptight Louis scrambles to make it on the streets, befriending a prostitute (Jamie Lee Curtis) who takes him in and saves him from starvation--or worse. When the two innocent victims realize the scheming brothers' plot, they unite and devise a fabulous revenge to prove that their lives can't be controlled by the power-grubbing Duke brothers. The film features outstanding work by Denholm Elliott as the butler and Curtis as the prostitute with a heart of gold. Curtis especially shines in the scene in which she removes all of her hustler accoutrements to reveal her true looks. [More]

Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche

Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Jamie Lee Curtis, Denholm Elliott, Paul Gleason

Director: John Landis

Director: John Landis

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 24, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Trading Places

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Preposterous lighthearted one-joke comedy.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/14/10
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

...one of the most impressive comedies to emerge out of the 1980s.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
07/02/09
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Fast-paced and energetic social satire fleshed out with lots of enjoyable silliness.

Full Review Source: Film4 | comment Comment
04/02/08
Film4

The Saturday Night Live veterans Murphy and Ackroyd are the show-stealers here in this decent family comedy.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/02/08
Empire Magazine

Trading Places also makes Eddie Murphy a force to be reckoned with.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
04/02/08
Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This 1983 film re-creates a screwball comedy format and then eliminates everything but the crudest audience-gratification elements; any incursions into the more morally complicated side of the genre are quickly curtailed.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 4 Comments
04/02/08
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The rise of Valentine and the fall of Winthorpe are a source of great fun.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/02/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Trading Places is a light romp geared up by the schtick shifted by Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/02/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/03/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

As a satire on the internecine savagery of fiscal doings under late Reaganite capitalism, the movie is not as biting as it thinks it is; but it's still the best hoot since Arthur.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out

Eddie Murphy stars in one of his greatest roles.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Because Eddie doesn't have to carry the whole movie, he is free to make every word that comes out of his mouth infinitely appealing.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Brad Laidman
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

No review available.

comment 1 Comment
10/09/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Hilarious chemistry between Aykroyd and Murphy.

comment Comment
09/21/05
Bill Clark
Bill Clark
FromTheBalcony

No review available.

comment Comment
08/02/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

great fun

comment Comment
02/26/05
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

What's most visible in the movie is the engaging acting. Murphy and Aykroyd are perfect foils for each other.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[A] shrewd but very likable movie.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Enjoyable star comedy with pleasant performances.

comment Comment
07/19/04
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
06/08/04
Sarah Chauncey
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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