Trading Places Review

Sentinel online now loading the geek cast radio

network of podcasts I had the most absurd nightmare.

I was poor and no one liked me. I know what you're

thinking you see foggy in there We can make it,

baby! Me and you! Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy

are trading places. Help! Help! Hey, I don't

want your bag, man. Help! Help! Help! Help! I'll

bet that that man could run our company as well

as your young wood saw. Are we talking about

a wager, Randolph? Is there a problem, officers?

Oh... Winthrop, I'm glad your parents are not

alive to see this. Wait, now this is totally

preposterous. I'm not a thief. Here we are, William.

Take off your clothes. You are making a career

decision here. Take off your clothes. Did you

hear what this man said to me? I have witnesses.

This man is physically threatening me. Hey Randy,

this is nice. I like this. We are commodities

brokers, William. Commodities are agricultural

products, like wheat, which is used to make bread,

pork bellies, which is used to make bacon, which

you might find in a bacon and lettuce and tomato

sandwich. I'm considering going long on eight

pro wheat. What do you think, Valentine? Freeze,

slimeball! Moi? Put that gun away at once, Winthorpe.

You lost your mind? Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy.

They're not just getting rich, they're getting

even. Do you have any better ideas? Yeah, you

know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt

rich people is by turning them into poor people.

Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don

Amici, Denham Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Food and rent, not the only things around here

that cost money. You sleep on the couch. Trading

places. It's a very funny myth. SOUTHARTH IN

APRIL OF 142! Hello and welcome to MWIRE, Movie

Week in Review, brought to you by the Geekcast

Radio Network. I am one of your hosts, Steve

Joe and Mike, and joining me is Steve Megatron.

Hello. Hello. And yes, this is MWIRE episode

83 marks a new thing for us here at GeekCast

Radio Network. What is that, Steve? You can now

stream the podcast on Stitcher. What the hell

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listen to your favorite radio shows, podcasts,

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on the iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Blackberry,

WebOS. So pretty much any device you can think

of besides downloading it, this would be another

alternative. Yes So yes definitely recommended

to try it out Yes, and today we are going to

be talking about that 1983 classic the very first

time Jamie Lee Curtis was not screaming her head

off in a horror movie Trading places with Eddie

Murphy and Dan Aykroyd and to give us more details

on that we head to JT with just the facts Hey

guys, JT from Saskatoon here and today I'm talking

about Trading Places, what could arguably be

called one of the best comedies of the 1980s.

The film was released on June 8th, 1983 and was

directed by John Landis and starred Gene Lee

Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, and Eddie Murphy. Trading

Places is the tale of commodities broker Lewis

Winthrop III and street hustler Billy Ray Valentine

and how their lives become entangled as a result

of an elaborate bet between the detestable Duke

brothers Mortimer and Randolph. In trying to

settle an argument of nature versus nurture,

they scheme to switch the lives of the straight

-laced Lewis and the street -smart Billy Ray.

Lewis is framed for drug possession and fired

from his job at the Duke's brokerage firm, after

which they bail Billy Ray out of jail and set

him up in Lewis' old home and his former job.

By employing his street -smarts, Billy Ray proves

to be a natural at the business. His success

in this new environment seemingly validates Randolph

Duke's side of the debate. At the company Christmas

party, Lewis sneaks in and tries to plant drugs

in Valentine's desk, who he has come to blame

for all his troubles. After Lewis is discovered

and ejected from the party, Billy re -hides in

a bathroom stall to smoke a joint when the Dukes

enter the room. He overhears them go over the

details of their bet and sees them settle the

bet with Mortimer paying Randolph one single

dollar. Billy Ray then proceeds to seek out Lewis

with the help of Coleman, Lewis's former butler,

and Ophelia, a working girl who was part of framing

Lewis in the first place. They find him just

as he is attempting to commit suicide by overdosing

on some pills. After he cleans up, Lewis and

Billy Ray learn of a crop report on oranges for

the coming season and remember the Dukes paying

large sums of money to the man transporting it.

Realizing the Duke's fortune has been built by

cheating at the stock market, they begin to plot

the downfall of the Dukes. Lewis, Billy Ray,

and the others sneak on board a New Year's Eve

costume party train to intercept the Duke's man

inside. After nearly getting shot, our heroes

toss the villain into a gorilla suit and lock

him in a cage with a real gorilla. A fake report

is then given to the Dukes, with which they plan

to corner the market on frozen orange juice futures.

Little do they realize they've been set up. The

Dukes buying all of the orange juice futures

drives the price up causing everybody else to

buy as well. When the real report comes out the

price plummets leaving the Dukes destitute and

Lewis and Billy Ray stinkin' rich. In a final

stab at the Dukes and their douchebaggery Lewis

and Billy Ray reveal that they made a bet where

Billy Ray says they could turn the Dukes poor

in a single day. Lewis pays Billy Ray what he

owes for the bet one single dollar. The film

ends with Lewis, Billy Ray, Ophelia, and Coleman

all living off of their incredible new wealth

in the Caribbean. Trading Places was a huge hit,

garnering praise from nearly all of the film

critics at the time. Time magazine film critic

Richard Schickel called the film one of the most

emotionally satisfying and morally gratifying

comedies of recent times, and praised Eddie Murphy's

performance calling his work a force to be reckoned

with. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times said

the film was reminiscent of old Frank Capram

films from the 30s and 40s as well as having

some wonderful comic chemistry between Ackroyd

and Murphy and Janet Maslin of the New York Times

echoed Ebert's sentiments and praised Jamie Lee

Curtis for her portrayal of Ophelia saying she

turned the hard -edged prostitute into a character

of unexpected charm. For those that didn't know,

this movie was directed by John Landis. Now why

might that name sound a little familiar? Well,

that's because he's the director of such 80s

classics as An American Werewolf in London, Michael

Jackson's thriller music video, and the classic

comedy The Three Amigos. He also reteamed with

Eddie Murphy five years later to direct Coming

to America in 1988. And did you know that this

film has two very interesting bits of trivia?

One is that this was only Eddie Murphy's second

film role after 48 hours the year before. The

other involves Jamie Lee Curtis. After years

of playing the quote unquote virgin in horror

movies, she broke out of the role by going topless

in one scene in this film. This also inspired

one of my favorite scenes from the horror movie

Scream in 1996. Trading Places did very well

at the box office, earning nearly 90 million

dollars during its theatrical run in the U .S.,

making it the fourth highest -grossing movie

in 83 and the second highest -earning R -rated

film of that same year. The film has gone on

to become a cult classic, not only as a comedy

film, but as an example of 80s cinema. The film

even served as the inspiration for the Eddie

Murphy rule in the New York Stock Exchange, which

bans the use of misappropriated government info

in commodities trading on the stock market. Trading

Places deserves every bit of its popularity even

now 30 years after its release. It stands tall

amongst other 80s comedies for its breezy plot,

memorable characters and performances, as well

as just being damn funny. If you haven't seen

this movie already, what the hell is wrong with

you? This has been Just the Facts Trading Places.

I'm JT from Saskatoon, reminding you of one very

critical thing. Yeah, you know, it occurs to

me that the best way you hurt rich people is

by turning them into poor people. Thank you JT

for that very interesting just the facts and

yeah, I cannot believe I cannot believe I don't

remember the the scream reference that they reference

trading places I love this movie and Again, I've

said this before in several and wires recently.

I'm surprised and shocked at what my mother allowed

me to watch as a child Nice When did you first

hear about or first see this movie? Because I

know it wasn't in the 80s. Um, I think... As

bad as this sounds. My dad used to let me watch

pretty much anything I wanted. I saw it probably

in the 90s, so I was still... I was probably

around like 13 when I saw it. Which, he loves

his 80s flicks, so... Suffice it to say that's

where I first got my exposure to it. Mm -hmm

You know, I think it's because I'm so desensitized

to the rating systems of today's movies Like

everything nowadays is PG -13 you could put a

half naked woman Three fuck yous and a god damn

it, and 20 explosions in a movie, and they would

rate it PG -13. There are really no good rated

R movies anymore, and every time that we've gone

back and seen a movie like this, or a movie that

has, you know, Jamie Lee Curtis basically nearly

almost naked, I have to be like, wait, what?

How the hell did they get away with that back

then? And then I realize, holy hell, this movie

was rated R. What was one of your favorite scenes

out of this? One of my favorite scenes was just

when they made the entire bet. I just thought

it was quite hilarious that he had no clue what

was coming to him. He thought, oh, yay, I'm going

to get this big promotion kind of thing. Just

a big pat on the back. And then they're like,

you're fired. It was funny that they got Eddie

Murphy's character off the street and threw him

in there. I don't know, I just love the whole

setup of it. It's not even that it's like a coincidence.

No, they were just doing it for shits and giggles.

For a dollar bet. For a dollar. Yeah, I know.

Well, it's not even really a coincidence because...

Well they set the whole thing up from the get

-go. Well right, they set the whole thing up

from the get -go, but what they didn't set up

was how Valentine was. Because we meet him pretending

to be a paraplegic. Outside on a roller thing

look, you know looking for money saying oh, it's

Christmas time I lost my legs in the war and

this that the other thing he's like, oh my god,

I can walk again Praise Jesus I can walk but

and you know in the in the cops are all after

him So I mean him being from that's you know,

that side of society that wasn't something the

Dukes That's what he was. That's what he was

and what was set up was was the switch uh...

because he actually when we first meet him he

runs into the the the commodities building uh...

disease he's talking to the dukes at first and

he runs and hides in the building uh... this

movie is so there is just dan ackroyd's portrayal

of of of windthorpe when he goes crazy is just

it's so great all i know It's just so great him

standing out there in the rain with the gun in

his hand watching them you know eat and dine

and laugh with with Valentine is just like because

I again I haven't seen this movie in God 15 years,

maybe I thought He would have I thought he I

I seem to remember him shooting into the restaurant,

but then I remember no No, that's not what happened

because he he invades the Christmas party as

that drunk Santa Claus That's the worst Santa

suit ever It's still funny in hell. It's funny.

I'm just saying it's like wow the beard is like

all good It's not even a real Santa suit the

beards like all gray. Well. He looks like a friggin

hippie Oh my god, they threw a bomb and in dressed

as Santa. Yep. Yep You know This is another one

of those movies along with um with caddyshack

2 that you have the upper crust society and A

little you know just regular working -class society

going against each other and oh my god Those

people that Winthorpe was trying to upstage,

Todd or whatever his name was, that whole group,

oh my god, I so wanted to bitch slap every one

of those guys. Oh yeah. What JT failed to mention

in his Just the Facts is that you have, before

we even really knew him, As you know the principal

you got Paul friggin Gleason in this as beaks

He was the principal in breakfast club oh That

you recognize him I didn't catch it. I didn't

reference well I haven't seen the breakfast club

in a while, but yeah, but that's that's Paul

Gleason, and I was like oh, yeah, that's right

cuz I cuz These movies that we're talking about

in in our in our 80s spotlight thing here on

M wire Obviously their 80s movies 80s movies

were done differently than they're done today

where today's movies you'll have oh, hey Here's

the title or oh, hey, here's here's some credits

in the beginning in the 80s you had the title

of the movie all the pretty you know you don't

like the beginning pretty like you know film

by this that and the other you know the title

and then you have the cast listing and it even

though it's going over images of you know of

New York and all this and all that it's still

showing you the names of who gets credit in the

movie and I saw his name I'm like wait why I

didn't even remember that he was in this, but

yeah, he was the agent that the Dukes were paying

off. He was Beaks. He was the one that ended

up in the gorilla suit at the end. Oh, yeah,

that's right. And speaking of, I know I'm kind

of jumping all over the place here, but another

one of my favorite scenes was the drunken party

on the train because the ape... the train not

the actual not the real ape not the live ape

the ape suit guy originally James Belushi that's

hilarious because he takes off the costume he's

like I'm cured yeah that's right and it's kind

of funny because he's actually friends with Dan

Aykroyd because of his brother I mean, you have

us. Even though they really only touted Dana

Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Lee Curtis,

you have a star -studded cast in this movie.

And it's just so, so amazing. And I love that

butler. Coleman. Coleman's hilarious. Coleman's

great. In the beginning, for some strange reason...

Because as it's going through and we're being

taken through the day of Winthorpe, it gives

me a Bruce Wayne Alfred vibe, even though Bruce

Wayne isn't as douchebaggery as Winthorpe is.

Yeah. Because it's like, you know, Coleman's

bringing Winthorpe his breakfast. I don't know.

I just get a Bruce Wayne Alfred vibe off the

two of them. I could see that. She's just a little

bit, but Yeah, I love oh man. This movie is so

hilarious It's actually shocking to me to find

out that she Jamie Lee Curtis was wearing a wig

Because when she gets back to her place she takes

her big hair off. Oh, yeah, yep And yeah the

whole Don't think I would ever want to go to

the New York Stock Exchange. Oh my god. That's

a madhouse Yeah, who the hell would want to do

that job? I mean, I mean, I know that they make

good money, but Jeez, it's it's like I don't

know. There's too much stress. I couldn't I wouldn't

want to deal with it. It's Just kind of I don't

know maddeningly sick Yeah, it is One of the

things I absolutely loved about this and I think

it's kind of a nostalgia thing because we're

recording this the day before the 10th anniversary

of 9 -11 and in the very beginning of the movie,

well not the beginning, when they get to New

York because they're going to be doing the whole

stock exchange scene. Windthorpe, or not Windthorpe,

the Dukes show up first in the limousine and

Windthorpe and Valentine pull up behind them

in a taxi. After they get out of the taxi, the

camera pans up to the two towers. It tears me

up to just see movies that still have the towers

in them, because obviously they're no longer

there. Yeah, all it is is the memorials on the

ground and the places, you know, and the exact

fitting of where it would have fit underground

and Yeah Yeah, it's nice to still see them there.

Although now they are building What they want

to be the world's tallest skyscraper Mm -hmm

right next to the spot where the two stood. Yeah

But it just it's just kind of disheartening to

I mean, it's you know, it's Hard to look at yeah,

it's it's very hard to look at seeing the the

the World Trade Center in the old movies even

when eventually later on down the line in my

when we get to Episode 98 which is Armageddon

Same thing you see the two towers in that movie

as well But yeah Overall this movie is just absolutely

there isn't a dry moment in this movie Dan Aykroyd's

performance Eddie Murphy's performance the Dukes.

I love the Dukes. Those two guys are hilarious.

Oh Yeah, I Pretty much every every acting choice

that they had for this film. I really am impressed

with and I really like I'm glad that they chose

the people they did. I'm glad that Dan Aykroyd

and Eddie Murphy are in it. You can tell that

it's one of Eddie Murphy's earliest films. Oh,

yeah But also, these two guys are from Saturday

Night Live, so it should be no surprise that

they're working together. Yeah. So, I mean, uh,

and I didn't know until, you know, around the

same time that I watched this that Eddie Murphy

had ever been on Saturday Night Live. Oh, yes,

he was. Mr. Robinson's neighborhood. But, uh,

yeah. But, um, but, yeah, I mean, it's it's.

always funny because you always see Saturday

Night Live people flocking with each other. And

the funny thing about the two guys that made

the bet are it reminds me of the the two guys

from the Muppet Show that sit up in the balcony

and make fun of the whole show. That's how I

equate them. I pretty much think that they're

almost kind of like parroting each other in a

sense. Now I know that's the voices of Statler

and Waldorf are not the actors who play Randolph

Randolph and Mortimer I know that they're not

those guys, but yeah, I can so see that It's

like they're sitting back they they set something

emotion or they're watching something and they're

just poking fun at it because it's funny because

they're rich snobs standing up in the Overhang

overlooking. Yeah It's just and they do visit

these two characters again if you pay attention

in Coming to America. Oh, yeah They're they're

sitting there pours dirt on the street and Eddie

Murphy's character Gives them money and they're

like we're rich Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna

have to yeah We're gonna have to eventually cover

Coming to America, because that was another good

movie as well. Oh, yeah. McDonald's. Oh, God,

yeah. Yeah, that was funny. Yeah. But anyways,

yeah, this film, I really like this film. I didn't

remember until the recent watching of it that

there was boob shots in it. Yeah, yeah, the half

-nude scene. Because I had always seen it on

TV. Yeah. Yeah. And I watched it I think either

on Netflix or I run at the disc to watch and

I was like, holy shit. I'm like, that wasn't

there the last time I watched it. And then I

was like, oh yeah, it's on TV. It's edited. Yeah.

But what I really love about specifically Acroyd

and Murphy, they Kind of embrace each other's

roles. I mean Eddie Murphy Takes to the business

world like it's not like it's nothing He just

adapts his street smarts into the business world.

Whereas Dan Aykroyd goes crazy But the police

station scene. Oh my god This, you know, he's

still at the beginning of the police station

scene, the first scene when he's in the police

station, he still has that upper crust thinking.

He's like, this isn't mine. I'm innocent. Do

you know who I'm talking to? You know who you're

talking to? You'll all be sued, blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah. And I'm like, oh my God. And then

he starts, as the film goes along after this,

he continues to talk about these drugs. Like

he actually knows what the hell they are. And

I'm like... Winthorpe, you've never seen a drug

a day in your life. And it's funny because Eddie

Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, the next year, 1984,

go on to do what is arguably one of their biggest

franchises ever. Not together, but Eddie went

to Beverly Hills Cop in 84, Aykroyd did Ghostbusters.

Yeah, and both of them are pretty much cult classics

at this point just because People defend them

like no other even though They yeah, they were

kind of hokey and I would kind of say that Beverly

Hills cop was better than Ghostbusters Well,

it's two specific different it is but I would

say it's more of a rewatchable enjoyable thing

where it's Ghostbusters I kind of have to be

in the mood to watch it Well, and also you have

to be a really huge, like I know of two, two

or three really huge, huge Ghostbusters fans

that can watch this movie. Now, I was thinking

more Optobotamus and my buddy Bob Glimmer. Yeah,

they didn't do bad commentaries, unlike some

people. But getting back to Trading Places. When

I saw the ape the the actual live ape and I saw

the two guys the two baggage guys I'm like Why

is this reminding me of an episode of the three

stooges because you see that same? I don't know

if it's that same gorilla or that same ape or

whatever I don't know what kind of monkey it

was I don't know if it's that same one, but almost

Every episode or every short of a three stooges

short Every other one there's been some sort

of ape that looked just like the ape in this

and I'm like, oh my god So hilarious. So I think

it's a continuous running gag that just kind

of yeah used kind of yeah. Yeah and What else

do we want to say about this? I mean this film

is just amazing Yeah, it's kind of hard to really

say anything without I don't know spoiling parts

of the movie I mean, obviously, you should watch

it. But it's pretty straightforward. I mean,

they just they're putting a poor guy, you know,

poor street bum in the place of a rich man and

a rich man in place of a street bum and just

seeing what happens. Yeah. And it's just showing

that people are very adaptable to their situations.

Oh, yeah. It's just funny watching the struggle

from. Being up and high and mighty going to a

street bomb and then the other way around wasn't

really that big of an adjustment Yeah, yeah,

and I love the constant of Them seeing each other

Winthorpe and Valentine seeing each other It's

like hey the dude right there in the taxi. That's

that's the dude. I don't know what you're and

this is Coleman I don't know what you're talking

about sir and then and then accurate and then

and then Winthorpe recognizes his car. He's like

That's my car! Coleman, bring my car back! I'm

like, oh my god, it's just so funny. So, I guess

we can stop gushing now. We will head to some

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We are back. Final thoughts on trading places,

sir. would give it and I know I'm kind of biased

I would give it like five out of five just because

I just love this whole movie and how it plays

out some moments of it are kind of dated but

overall it's an a fairly enjoyable film you can

I believe watch it on instant on Netflix no you

can't oh you can't you were able to a while ago

I'm sure they'll add it again but you can rent

the discs fairly cheap As far as the the ways

to watch I'm sorry to interrupt you as far as

the ways to watch trading places you can Get

it on special collectors edition DVD or you can

rent it through Amazon for $2 .99 Which is what

I did. I rented it through Amazon instant video

You get it for I think Seven day rental for three

three seventeen after tax. So that's not bad

Or you can go to family video and pay 50 cents

or you can go to a well Or you could buy it at

the Walmart bin. Yeah for like five bucks. Yeah

So it is on DVD and it is on it is on instant

through Amazon As far as my final thoughts even

a lot of the stuff that dates the 80s movies

Any of them it doesn't matter what it is. I still

I would much rather have Dated 80s movies than

some of the stuff that comes out today. Oh Yeah,

that's just me overall trading places tells a

really really great point a point B point C story

None of them like that there aren't any scenes

in here that make me want to fast -forward or

stop the movie or anything like that Just as

we said before just an 80s classic. Oh, yeah

So we hope you enjoyed this episode of MMR and

wish you'll join us next time when we'll be continuing

the 80s spotlight thing that we've kind of been

keeping up with but not really with Actually,

I'm cheating a little bit but a movie that came

out in 1990 so But still it still reminds me

of the 80s days of thunder. We're going to be

going racing next time around for now I am TFG1

Mike with Steve Megatron Phillips Thank you for

listening, until next time. Third, follow us

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There, I said it. Happy?