Runtime: 116 minutes
Directed by: Eddie Murphy
Starring: Murphy, Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner
From: Paramount
You wouldn’t believe why I saw this movie. First off, as mentioned before, Saturday the 5th was supposed to be me going to a cineplex to experience TMNT: Mutant Mayhem. It’d be in a town I rarely visit after I dropped someone off at an airport. Would you believe the entire building had no power? True story, and that was a first for me. As it was an AMC joint and I use the A-List app, canceling that was incredibly easy. Instead of finding another spot to see it, I was too miffed (or to be blunt, pissed!) and did other things instead. The day wasn’t a total loss: I went to a few places for the first time in ages, including a restaurant.
All that backstory was given to explain that I was driving home and took the backroads home; in a small city I saw a bizarre sight: I passed by what looked like an abandoned building, which for reasons known only to a few had a large sign which certainly appeared to be a painting that advertised this movie! I know it had stars Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor prominently displayed. I wasn’t able to turn around and take any photographic evidence or do any further investigating on why the F this was a thing. I have no words, nor an explanation.
There were other reasons for me to check out this movie rather than the backstory given above. It was such a passion project for Eddie Murphy that he wrote, produced, starred, AND directed this (the only time he did so), and was about a Harlem club in the 1930’s, meaning it would be focused on a Black enterprise and many great Black actors would be on screen, it would make an obvious companion piece w/ The Cotton Club… if I had seen that myself, I’d compare & contrast myself. One day I will see that not just to make a comparison, but also discuss how that had an incredibly fractured production history. For the faults of Harlem Nights and how Murphy didn’t know Pryor was already sick w/ MS at the time, at least no one behind the scenes was murdered!
Anyhow, Richard Pryor runs a successful club in Harlem, & Murphy is his adopted son. There are various problems, including white gangster Michael Lerner, and Eddie falling for Jasmine Guy, the moll of a rival. All those talents plus Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx, Stan Shaw, Della Reese & Arsenio Hall in a rather peculiar role… impressive. Apparently, the Black actors together behind the scenes was more entertaining than what was on screen. Heck, the legend Herbie Hancock did the score, which was a treat. Of course, people expect more with all those greats involved so like me you probably hope this is better than just “fine”; on the other hand, I heard this was disappointing so I was satisfied that this was watchable.
The story had its faults and some scenes don’t pan out; even Eddie noted that the script was “thrown together” and there’s a reason he never directed again. That said, this manages to be passable for me due to decent production design, the score, and some funny dialogue. Of course it’s quite profane but I wouldn’t have expected anything else from a picture starring Murphy AND Pryor. As flawed as the end product was, I have no regrets about this viewing… or the bizarre reason why I chose this as a streaming rental.
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