Movie Review: Coming to America (1988)

Coming to America is quite fun. I’ve been wanting to see this for a while, because I’ve always caught some of it on TV, but had never seen it from the beginning. I had never actually seen Eddie Murphy in Africa before, and wouldn’t have known James Earl Jones was in it if I didn’t already know that.

The movie has a pretty good story about a privileged African prince trying to gain life experience and find a wife through working at a fast food restaurant in Queens.

Eddie Murphy brings a great deal of charm and likability to the character of Prince Akeem.

He of course plays other roles as well, and while I’m sure that was a bit of a novelty back in 1988, that’s probably my least favorite stuff in the movie. The movie certainly has some things that aren’t particularly funny, and some that have even aged kind of poorly (no, I’m not offended by Eddie Murphy in white face). But when the movie works, it really works.

The characters are fun. Arsenio Hall’s facial expressions are hilarious. And it’s just such a fun enjoyable movie.

Rating: 8/10