ट्रेडिंग प्लेसस

John Landis has directed a brilliant original screenplay by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod.

Eddie Murphy is absolutely hilarious as a street hustler that was placed in the world of options trading by a couple of old farts who just like to bet with each other.

Of course on the opposite side, the real options trader, Dan Aykroyd, is dumped on the street.

Coming to save the day is Jamie Lee Curtis, who is funny and hot as a prostitute who feels sorry for Winthorpe (Ackroyd).

Denholm Elliott is positively lovable as the butler. Don Ameche and Ralph Bellemy play the betting Duke brothers.

SKIN-TASTIC Moment: In front of a mirror (and Dan Aykroyd) hooker- with-a-chest-of-gold Jamie Lee doffs her top and lets loose her magnificent money-markers in one of history's all-time hottest topless scenes.

This is probably one of the funniest films of the 1980's. It not only is a play on the classic nature vs. nurture theme, but it is also a somewhat comedic commentary on the "greed is good" decade of the 80's. However, it is also a nice bridging of the generations as it features two of the biggest stars to come from "Saturday Night Live" Eddie Murphy does a fine job as con man Billy Ray and Dan Ackroyd is great as Louis. Jamie Lee Curtis is also wonderful as Ophelia. In fact, it was good to see her do something other than the "scream queen" roles which she became famous for during the early part of her career. She definitely shows the comedic timing that she would display later in her career and would make her one of the finest comedic actresses in film today. However, the one that really steals it for me is Denholm Elliot as Coleman. He delivers a very low key performance that is befitting for that role. This is a real gem.

When it comes to great comic films, nobody recalls the magic between Murphy and Aykroyd in Trading Places. In the early 80's Eddie Murphy was considered the funniest black comedian next to Richard Pryor. Dan Aykroyd was one of the all time great cast members of Saturday Night Live. Both actors started on SNL and were ready to make their career in films. Trading Places is an example of a perfect comedy. It is funny yes, but there is so much more. With its story, the acting, and the political, racial, and economical plots in the film add to its greatness. One of the best comedies to come out of the 1980's, it stands as one of Eddie Murphy's best earlier films as well as Aykroyd's performances as a character actor. A wonderful and somewhat good family film. If you're that kind of family that is.

One of the best comedies of the 1980's, this stars Eddie Murphy in one of his best roles alongside Dan Aykroyd. The plot is great, a poor, homeless man who has resorted to a life of crime (Murphy) and an upper class yuppie involved in the stock market (Aykroyd) trade places when two devious brothers (Aykroyd's employees) have a bet. This is a very well written, well acted, and well executed comedy, that makes you laugh, but also grips you with a strong plot. Also has a satisfying ending.

`Trading Places' is one of the best movies and one of the best comedies that I have had the privilege of viewing and almost every aspect of this movie is done to the highest excellence and the highest quality. I have always considered that some of the most entertaining and enjoyable movies came out during the 1980s and `Trading Places' definitely falls within this category.

Everything is a success with this movie –the high quality of acting from both the main actors and the supporting cast, the wonderful humour and engaging dialogue contained within the script, the development of the plot, the music selection provided for the various scenes and even the atmosphere and scenery contained in the movie. Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd are particularly outstanding in their various roles –and keep the excellent performances up in their reversal of roles. Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche and Denham Elliot also provide their characters with a great amount of depth and dimension and make what would have already been a wonderful comedy success even more entertaining. The only very minor criticism is that Jamie Lee Curtis is meant to portray a prostitute in this movie. Jamie Lee Curtis is much too high quality of an actress for the role of a prostitute and I think if the emphasis had been on her character's profession it would have weakened her contribution to the movie. But thankfully the writers and producers recognized that she shouldn't be portrayed in a one-dimensional role and her truly wonderful and highly excellent acting abilities shone through during the whole movie.

The script flowed naturally and had an edge to it that made it both entertaining and intriguing. Even though the storyline and outcome was slightly predictable, the scriptwriters succeeded in keeping you interested and keeping you entertained as the sequence of events unfolded. The humour contained in the movie is genuinely entertaining and doesn't sound forced or strained in the same way that it does in some other movies. Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy make a thoroughly wonderful team and I hope they someday consider doing another movie together. I think the 1980s marked the high point of Eddie Murphy's career and this was one of the movies that cemented his reputation as a great comedian.

I couldn't recommend this movie highly enough. A truly great comedy masterpiece and classic.