Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

I have been meaning to watch this movie forever – I even watched the first ten minutes this time last year before I changed my mind and switched over to something else. I don’t know why I’ve put this off for so long, either way, 2018 finally saw me take the plunge.

Brothers and trading tycoons, Randolph and Mortimer Duke place a bet focused around the scientific debate of nature verses nurture.

The experiment is simple; take a homeless man from a disadvantaged background (Eddie Murphy) and switch his circumstances with a fortunate man with an ideal upbringing (Dan Akroyd). The question is; will their change in environment effect how they go through life or are their natures inbred.

The Dukes learn that Science, like life, doesn’t always go as planned – especially when the variables don’t play by the rules.

Straight off the bat, this movie was not at all what I was expecting.

Firstly I’d put Trading Places in that pile of Christmas movies that are only debatably Christmas movies. Who the heck even knows what the criteria is anyway; set in December, features a sprinkle of snow and has at least one guy who may or may not be Santa in a Santa suit I suppose.

The movie was funny, I’ll give it that; I did laugh out loud more than once and for the most part I enjoyed Eddie Murphy, whose comedy I am pretty familiar with. Aside from funny, the movie was also crude and a lot of the times jarring to watch especially in its casual racism. I understand comedy plays by a different set of rules where nothing is off limits – however I can’t quite get over that questionable blackface scene.

The 80’s. Am I right?

If anything what I liked most about this movie was the science and the economics – I wish they had gone into the whole nature verses nurture experiment in more detail, as well as how the stock market and the trading floor works. I’m a nerd that way.

I’m not always a “lessons learned” kinda gal… but I really wanted to see all the rich white guys learn their lesson. Or something. There seemed to be no “moral of the story” by the end, sure the good guys won and the bad guys lost but it was a hollow victory – it’s Christmas of course the good guys won! Besides the winning and losing was all monetary based, which is all well and good but sometimes not good enough.

Sometimes you just need some good ol’ fashion comeuppance.

Glad to have finally watched Trading Places however I don’t see it becoming a staple for this time of the year.