34. Coming to America

Classic fish out of water tale.  Coming to America is about Akeem (Eddie Murphy), Prince of Zamunda, trying to find a bride.  On his 21 birthday, Akeem is suppose to marry a girl who has been breed just for him and will do anything he commands, but he wants someone who actually has thoughts and ideas of his own.  When he complains to his dad, King Jaffe (James Earl Jones), his dad decides to let him go out before the wedding to explore the real world before settling down.  Akeem has a different plan, he wants to go to America to find himself a bride.  And where would a king go to find a bride?  Queens!!

Akeem takes with him his personal aide, Semmi (Arsenio Hall), and they find a simple apartment and get jobs at McDowells (not to be confused with McDonalds).  Akeem meets Lisa (Shari Headley) and falls in love.  He convinces her that he is a sheep herder that has come to study in America.  Although she has a boyfriend she too ends up falling in love with Akeem.  But there relationship is threatened after Semmi sends  a plea to King Jaffe that brings him to Queens to find his son. 

The film has its moments that were clever and witty and then it had it's classic Eddie Murphy moments where he plays numerous characters at once.  I'm not really sure why he does this in almost all of his movies.  That's what other actors are for.  But like I said a classic fish out of water story that sets up jokes about class and how a prince would manage living in the "nicer" part of Queens.  I felt like some of the jokes were dated and over my head (they might have been a reference to some 80s pop culture thing I didn't understand).  And I wasn't really sure what Lisa's motivation was for some of her actions, but it wasn't a terrible movie.

Rating: ***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPE4OCeKt2k