They're not just getting rich... They're getting even.

Trading Places
1983 | R | 1Hr 56 Min | Comedy | Paramount Pictures

Director: John Landis

Writers: Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod

Stars: 

Eddie Murphy

Dan Aykroyd

Ralph Bellamy 

Jamie Lee Curtis

Synopsis:

Louis Winthorpe is a businessman who works for the commodities brokerage firm of Duke and Duke owned by the brothers Mortimer and Randolph Duke. Now they bicker over the most trivial of matters and what they are bickering about is whether it's a person's environment or heredity that determines how well they will do in life. When Winthorpe bumps into Billy Ray Valentine, a street hustler and assumes he is trying to rob him, he has him arrested. Upon seeing how different the two men are, the brothers decide to make a wager as to what would happen if Winthorpe loses his job, his home and is shunned by everyone he knows and if Valentine was given Winthorpe's job. So they proceed to have Winthorpe arrested and to be placed in a compromising position in front of his girlfriend. So all he has to rely on is the hooker who was hired to ruin him.

I remember watching trading places in my early teen years and shelved it ever since. Lately, it has been getting a lot of talk as one of the greatest Christmas Comedies of all time. Now, I have to admit I did not remember this as a Christmas story nor do I remember liking it back in the '80s. So when I was given the chance to revisit Trading Places I did and well I loved it!

In fact, the inside jokes that made me chuckle as well as the underlined racist story came through loud and clear now unlike it did in '84. Back then all my buddy and I cared about was Eddie Murphy. And for a role that he was not supposed to get he knocks it out of the park. The fact he was nominated for best performance in a comedy/musical Golden Globe in 1984 does not surprise me. 

Ok, I have to admit I totally forgot that Jamie Lee Curtis was one of the stars in Trading Places. And I must confess she was one of the best parts! Paramount did not want her due to her being a Scream Queen. According to John Landis, Jamie Lee Curtis was a hard sell because she only has done horror and wasn't known for comedy. But wait a second...

Our beloved scream queen goes topless in this one. All those years of Horror flicks and her first comedy we see her shedding her clothes? Even though horror movies were infamous for exploiting their female stars; Jamie Lee Curtis says she did not feel exploited in Hollywood until she started starring in mainstream movies like Trading Places. She had never been asked to appear naked in any of the horror movies she starred, but once she went mainstream and starred in Trading Places she had to take her top off. Don't get me wrong I know that the late 70s and early 80s had its fair share of nudity but for Curtis to get naked I felt a tad bit sad and not going to lie I was shocked.

Although the plot does not play out as well in this decade Trading Places definitely deserves its spot on Christmas lists. Maybe not for 24 hours straight but it should at least be playing somewhere right? This one fits the mold of AMC or FX. My guess would be the use of the "N" word along with the line used outside of the world trade center "In this building, it's either kill or be killed" keeps it off the small screen. When this can easily be edited for today's audience. 

I had so much fun going back and watching Trading Places, back to a time when Eddie Murphy was funny and Aykroyd was hitting his stride. Though this takes place at Christmas it's not a true Christmas movie and can be enjoyed anytime. Dubbed as one of the top 100 comedies of all time Trading Places is well worth the revisit.

4 Ninja Santa's out of 5