Movie review: ‘Trading Places’

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OK, I’ve already reviewed “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (click here to read it) and reviewed “A Christmas Story” (click here to read it) as we approach its annual marathon on TV. So, today I’m looking at “Trading Places,” which was released the same year as “A Christmas Story” but was much more popular. While some consider this a Christmas movie, I didn’t at first, but have come around to conventional wisdom. It’s a bit mature (tell me you didn’t watch it because of Jamie Lee Curtis) and actually peaks at the New Year. It bridges the time between “Christmas Vacation” and “A Christmas Story” as a much far superior motion picture that happens to be set at the holidays. Yes, obviously “Trading Places” is killer funny and has an outstanding cast is just about perfect. You can watch it at Thanksgiving, Christmas and at the New Year, but also in spring, summer and fall, too, and it will be just as good.

‘Trading Places’
(1983; 116 minutes; rated R; directed by John Landis and starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ralph Bellamy)

IT’S NOT GENES OR UPBRINGING, IT’S JAMIE LEE

(NOTE: I expanded this review with some updated word tenses, fixing a few typos and updating links on Dec. 19, 2016. I expanded the review again on Nov. 13, 2019. I once again expanded the review on Dec. 18, 2023.)

The world of entertainment was rollicking along in the early ’80s. Comedy in film was powering its way in the wake of the seminal “National Lampoon’s Animal House” from 1978. It was a new day in comedy and film and it certainly wasn’t your old man’s comedy and movies. “Trading Places” arrived in mid-1983 and instantly propelled Jamie Lee Curtis from being the then-current “Scream Queen” into the mainstream as a coming superstar and brightly showcased the talents of two of the top comedians of the day: Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.

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Anything could happen in comedy at the time … just look at “Caddyshack” from 1980, and just about did. With “Trading Places” you get it all: the new blood; some of the old blood; and some inventive filmmaking that didn’t allow itself to be bogged down by what it was supposed to do. It did what it wanted – and that was to entertain to the fullest.

So, in steps edgy comedian Murphy, who was fresh off his first film the year before in the hit cop-drama “48 Hrs.” Murphy brought an urban style and attitude and, as the counterpoint to Eddie’s keg of dynamite, is Aykroyd, who plays a stuck-up, but endearing yuppie.

As everyone probably knows, “Trading Places” is the story of two men: one rich; one poor. They become the focus of a bet between two even richer men arguing over whether it is genetics or environment that makes a difference in human beings.

The rich guy is Aykroyd, who plays “Louis Winthorpe III,” and he’s the office manager for the even richer guys’ brokerage house. Enter Murphy as “Billy Ray Valentine” and he’s a street guy with lots of guts and a knack for knowing what’s what. The richer guys, “Randolph and Mortimer Duke” played respectively by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche, have divided opinions on whether Murphy just coming off the street could run their firm successfully and what would happen to Aykroyd if he were put on the street in shame.

Of course, nothing turns out as anyone plans. Murphy is elevated and soon is wearing Aykroyd’s expensive wardrobe and riding in his car, while a disgraced Aydroyd is left in jail and having to be rescued by a heart-of-gold hooker, “Ophelia” played by Curtis. After a very bumpy road traveled by Aykroyd and a prosperous, smooth ride for Murphy, the two come together and Eddie figures out what’s caused the change in their worlds. They then pool their considerable personal abilities to get back at the rich guys, who are planning to corner the frozen orange juice market just after New Year’s Day.

Along the way there are parties; a topless Jamie Lee; embarrassing encounters with Aykroyd’s soon-to-be-former friends; a topless … oh, you get the idea. It all comes to a head on the floor of the stock exchange with Aykroyd (finally on his turf and swinging for the fences) and Murphy putting a sweet beat-down on Bellamy and Ameche.

The good guys win, Aykroyd gets the girl and the trio, along with the longsuffering butler who sides with the guys over his once-richer employers, wind up all smiles on a tropical beach as they enjoy the spoils of their victory.

Here’s my look at some of the primary cast:

  • An Oscar nominee (unfortunately, not for this one), Aykroyd is simply perfect as the prissy yuppie who is framed for stealing and forced onto the street. His scene at the police station where he’s stripped searched (OK, down to his skivvies) is outstanding and he does a great job navigating through all his challenges. Aykroyd has also been in the film version of “Dragnet” as well as “Sneakers” with Robert Redford (click here for my review) and wonderfully off-kilter as a hitman in “Grosse Pointe Blank” (click here for my review). Aykroyd was nominated for his work in “Driving Miss Daisy.”
  • Also an Oscar nominee, Murphy is at his energetic, outlandish best here as the brash but street-wise “Billy Ray.” He does a good job at quickly figuring out the world of finance (it’s really not too different than some things on the street) and is simply watchable every second he’s on the screen. The train scene where he pretends to be an African exchange student is marvelous. Murphy has been in “Doctor Doolittle” and its sequel as well as his nominated work in “Dreamgirls” and was also excellent in his own “Harlem Nights” with Richard Pryor (click here for my review). He is probably most fondly remembered as “Axel Foley” in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise.
  • Another Oscar nominee here is Denholm Elliott, who plays the butler “Coleman.” He works with the rich guys in the ruining of Aykroyd’s life and the elevation of Murphy. He takes a familiar but a little different road with his character than John Gielgud did as the butler two years before in “Arthur.” Elliott, who was nominated for “A Room with a View,” is most recognized from his work in the “Indiana Jones” franchise. Elliott died in 1992 at 70 of complications from AIDS, according to IMDb.com.
  • Curtis’ effort here is overshadowed by her very famous topless scenes with Aykroyd. Still, she does a simply terrific job as the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold looking to work her way off the street. She’s worldly wise but not jaded (only in the movies) and conveys her part with conviction and verve. Curtis has also been in “Freaky Friday,” “True Lies” with Arnold Schwarzenegger (click here for my review) and the marvelous “A Fish Called Wanda.” Of course she was most famously in John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (click here for my review) and has won two Golden Globes (OK, no jokes now).
  • Bellamy, too, is an Oscar nominee (“The Awful Truth”) while Ameche is an Oscar winner for his turn two years after “Trading Places” for his work in “Cocoon.” Both men play their rich, snobby and elitist rich guy character to perfection. They do such a good job you’d believe they were actually brothers. Bellamy died at 87 in 1991 of a lung ailment and Ameche died at 85 in 1993 of prostate cancer.
  • However, the best job by a supporting actor is by Paul Gleason, who plays tough-guy “Clarence Beeks,” who is helping the Bellamy and Amache to cheat their way on the OJ takeover. He just flies through the film having fun being an obnoxious jerk. Gleason, who was the principal in “The Breakfast Club,” revels in this kind of role and he’s really good at it. He was also in the totally awful “Johnny Be Good” (click here for my review) as well as the idiot cop in “Die Hard” (click here for my review). He died at 67 in 2006 of mesothelioma.

Two other hot comedy stars at the time, Al Franken and Tom Davis, have a small part here as two slacker baggage handlers on a train. Franken, who would go on to become one of the most brainless, useless and ignorant U.S. Senators of all time (thanks to an equally stupid electorate in Minnesota), made his mark on “Saturday Night Live,” as did Davis. The pair is simply wonderful here and it would have been a challenge to get their characters into more of the film.

Also, I find it interesting that only Curtis’ and Elliot’s characters have one name. All the other major characters have full names. I’m sure there’s some cinematic reason (or from the writer), but I’m not going to research it.

Oddly enough, although he was at the helm of several great films, director John Landis has never been nominated for an Oscar. He won a Primetime Emmy for “Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project,” but outstanding efforts with instant classics “Trading Places” and “National Lampoon’s Animal House” as well as the legendary horror flick “An American Werewolf in London” (click here for my review) never resulted in even a single nomination.

“Trading Places” was the No. 4 film of the year in 1983 with $90.4 million in domestic ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. It was not just a hit with audiences, but investors, too, because it was made on a budget of $15 million, according to Wiki. The No. 1 film of the year was “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” with $252.5 million. Here are the other films from that year that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • “Trading Places” was nominated for an Oscar! Yes, Elmer Bernstein was nominated for best music, original song score and its adaptation or best adaptation score.
  • The wonderful veteran supporting actor Bill Cobbs has a small part here as an unnamed bartender. Cobbs did a really sharp turn in “New Jack City” (click here for my review) and was also good in Tom Hanks’ “That Thing You Do!” (click here for my review).
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Several funny moments in the film came about by accident. The scene where Mortimer is trying to catch the money clip and having trouble wasn’t supposed to happen that way, but both kept going with it and not breaking character, so it was kept in. Ophelia’s “Swedish” disguise came about because Jamie Lee Curtis couldn’t do the correct Austrian accent. “
  • A restaurant called “Winthorpe and Valentine” can be found in the Shoppes at Liberty Place in Philadelphia.
  • The commodity exchange Comex in the World Trade Centers was used for filming. However, trading had to be halted when filmmakers attempted to film during a work day, so production resumed on the weekend.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “When shown on television in April, 1987, it was the highest-rated theatrical film broadcast by any network.”
  • Landis hadn’t heard of Murphy when the film was cast. His hit with “48 Hrs.” hadn’t been released and when so someone from Paramount Pictures asked if he might cast Murphy, Landis reportedly replied, “Who’s Eddie Murphy?”
  • I can’t say that I believe this entry from IMDb.com, but one poster there says that Jamie Lee lived in Marlene Dietrich’s apartment during film in New York as she was engaged to her grandson, Michael Riva, at the time. Odd, she would marry Christopher Guest less than 18 months after the release of TP and they remain married at the latest update of this review and have two children together.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (John Landis): (police): Frank Oz has a cameo as a police officer who is checking in Winthorpe’s property when he gets arrested. In The Blues Brothers (1980), he played an officer who is giving Jake Blues his property back to him. Oz later reprised the role in Blues Brothers 2000 (1998).”
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s extenstive trivia page about the film …

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