IMDb plot summary: An extremely pampered African prince travels to Queens, New York, and goes undercover to find a wife that he can respect for her intelligence and strong will.
Directed by John Landis. Starring Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley, and James Earl Jones.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this getting into it. I'm on and off about Eddie Murphy and wasn't sure if an 80s comedy would be leaning into or avoid tropes about African countries that could sit badly today. Fortunately, it works pretty well, and I attribute so much of that to Murphy's performance. His character is often naive or misinformed, but never stupid, so he comes off as someone genuinely trying to learn something new and improve at it, not a character to be mocked for misunderstanding. He's also such a sincere, charming character -- something I've never really seen in a performance from him before. I seldom laughed out loud at this movie, but I smiled a lot, and I rooted fiercely for this character. I'm glad I finally watched it.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Coming to America > The Misfits
Coming to America > Dark Passage
Coming to America < Big Hero 6
Coming to America < Contagion
Coming to America < Beetlejuice
Coming to America > This Boy's Life
Coming to America < Christopher Robin
Coming to America > American Dreamz
Coming to America < They Came Together
Coming to America > The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Coming to America > Role Models
Final spot: #774 out of 3383, or 77%.
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