Boomerang

After a terrible 1991 loanout to Hollywood Pictures for the weak comedy "The Distinguished Gentleman", Eddie Murphy returned to Paramount the following year and gave one of his all time best and funniest performances in this romantic comedy with a twist. Murphy portrays Marcus Graham, a New York advertising executive who is known by many people throughout New York for being a notorious player, a man who will date a woman, get her into bed by the end of the first date, judge her by the lovemaking and then dump her. Marcus is quite happy with having this rather low lifestyle and way of treating women. He goes around proudly reporting the previous night's results each morning to his friends (David Alan Grier, Martin Lawrence). One day, an attractive young woman (Robin Givens) becomes the advertising company's new boss. Marcus naturally feels that she will be his next target for romantic using and gets more than he ever bargained for when she winds up being the first woman ever who can see through his tricks and try to get back at him for it (hence the title). Murphy is absolutely hilarious in his role as a player who gradually learns to get lessons in treating women right and Halle Berry has a early leading film part as another work colleague who eventually comes between the Murphy/Givens love affair. Several other popular character actors and actresses make appearances here too.

One of Eddie Murphy's best performances in one of his least seen films was the 1992 winner BOOMERANG. This smart and sophisticated romantic comedy stars Eddie as Marcus Graham, a womanizing advertising executive who loves the thrill of the chase where women are concerned, but once he has completed the chase, he is ready to move on. His sexual exploits have made him the center of his circle of friends (Martin Lawrence, a paranoid racist, and David Alan Grier, an insecure milquetoast)who live vicariously through him and admire his style as the ultimate player. Everything changes for Marcus when he acquires a new boss named Jacqueline (Robin Givens), Marcus is enamored of Jacqueline, but is completely thrown by the fact that Jacqueline is a female version of himself, a player who avoids commitment and uses Marcus when it is convenient for her. Throw into the mix another co-worker of Marcus named Angela (Halle Berry) who is nuts about him, but he doesn't know she's alive. Everything works here and it is so refreshing to see a movie with a predominately black cast where the characters are people with brains and real jobs. Murphy exudes mass amounts of sex appeal in one of his best roles and Halle Berry, though allegedly playing a plain Jane, just couldn't come off that way if she tried. There are some wonderful comic bits contributed along the way by Grace Jones, Geoffrey Holder, Tisha Campbell, and the legendary Eartha Kitt, memorable as an aging cosmetics queen with the hots for Marcus. A winning and original take on the Battle of the Sexes that is entertaining from start to finish.

The Eddie Murphy romantic/sex comedy "Boomerang" is, quite simply, a thorough and total joy. Murphy portrays longtime womanizer Marcus Graham with his usual charm and poise. Halle Berry is absolutely appealing and absolutely warm as the girl who prompts Marcus to clean up his horny act. Martin Lawrence and David Alan Grier provide ingratiating and stylish buddy-support. Lela Rochon and Eartha Kitt are, respectively, magnificently kittenish and magnificently cougar-ish as women with whom Marcus scores. Yet the film's greatest asset, its leading lure is Robin Givens's portrayal of Marcus's boss/female counterpart Jacqueline Broyer. She is by turns sexy and stylish, sultry and commanding, seductive and polished. We immediately see why Marcus falls under her spell and, when she dumps him, not only do we not turn against her, we admire her independent spirit and her no-bullshit attitude. Really and truly, by and of itself "Boomerang" is a sexy, charming, absolutely joyous romantic/sex farce; with Robin Givens on board, however, it achieves genuine cinematic greatness.

Marcus is a player who woos and beds women with great ease – but never settles down with any. When a company merger sees him working for the glamorous Jacqueline, he finds himself being played but still falling for her. However a relationship with the more stable Angela beckons if he can change his ways – but will Jackie allow him to leave her?

Part of the Eddie Murphy come back after the years of Harlem Nights, Golden Child, Another 48 hours, BHC 2 and other weak films. This and the Distinguished Gentleman saw him try to come back with a fresh approach. Boomerang is a good film – it uses Murphy's playa persona and turns it on it's head to good effect. True some of it is plain silly and it is quite predictable but it is pretty enjoyable and quite sexy too!

Murphy is good simply because he is the butt of many of the jokes via his playa image – plus it's good to see him be outdone after so many big-headed films. Givens is very good as the man-eating boss but I found Berry to be too sweet to be believed – but though she was the better looking. Lawrence and Rock are well used in small roles but Kitt and Grace are pointless and stupid cameos. Witherspoon is very funny and I personally love to see Lela Rochon in anything (and those aren't her feet).

Overall it may not win any awards or being shockingly innovative but it's fun, sexy and has a good bagfull of laughs in there.

A few things seems weird about the IMDb reviews of this movie, to bring it down to a 5.4 ratings. 1. It's funny how a lot of reviewers remember walking out of the theaters, when they wrote their reviews 12...15...17 years after the movie was released. Like it was a personal vendetta against Eddie Murphy and the Hudlin brothers. 2. The movie, in 1992, was actually quite popular and didn't get panned by critics. So, it's funny to see so many 1 ratings, and people reviewing it as if it were the worst movie ever made. 3. I've always heard the rumors (and witnessed it myself) that IMDb reviewers don't seem to like popular black movies or TV shows. Seems like trolls, from entities other than those that make black productions, want to discourage potential viewers from seeing something other than their own creations.

My review: A very good rom-com with a great cast of old favorites and legends.