COMING TO AMERICA

What better place to find his queen than in Queens, NY?

Despite the fact that I thought Coming to America was flat brilliant when I first saw it, I had some trepidation about revisiting the movie. For one thing, I originally saw it when it was still hip and new. For another, I was in the seventh grade. It's always hard to tell how the things we loved when we were tweens are going to hold up, but I'm happy to report that after all these years, Coming to America is still quite enjoyable. For all the silliness it entails, it's actually a heartfelt love story.

When Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) reaches his twenty-first birthday, he is far from anxious to enter into an arranged marriage. He's even less impressed with the idea when he meets his future wife, a beautiful young woman who has been trained to serve him since birth. A lot of men would be happy to marry a girl who (by default) shares all of his opinions, but Akeem finds it all hugely boring. He decides to head to the U.S. to find a nice, independent American girl, and what better place to find his queen than in Queens, NY?

Upon arrival in the U.S., Akeem and his devoted servant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) discover that Queens isn't quite as regal as they expected. Undaunted, Akeem asks to be delivered to the most common part of town and takes the most common room in the most common boarding house he can find. This rat-infested slum is a far cry from the life Akeem is accustomed to, but he takes it all in stride. Much to Semmi's chagrin, the two take custodial jobs at McDowell's (a McDonald's-like restaurant), and Akeem soon falls for the boss's daughter.

Lisa (Shari Headley) is everything Akeem's betrothed is not. She's self-sufficient, intelligent, and best of all, she knows her own mind. Though she's been dating a suave, financially secure cad named Darryl (Eriq La Salle), Lisa is intrigued by Akeem. As far as she knows, he's a simple goat herder from Africa, but he treats her with respect. She responds to his integrity, not his economic status, and when Darryl and her father announce her engagement, she finds herself in Akeem's shoes: betrothed to someone she doesn't want to marry. Like Akeem, she finds the fact that she wasn't given a choice in the matter even more offensive than her spouse-to-be.

With Darryl out of the way, there's still the little matter of Akeem's real identity to contend with, but Lisa has fallen in love with him based on his character. If she loved the frog, doesn't it follow that she will love the prince? Given the fact that this is a romantic comedy, I'm sure you can guess the answer to that question. As much as I remembered the Soul Glo jokes, the multiple characters played by Eddie and Arsenio, and that perfect moment when Akeem cheerfully (and innocently) shouts "And f**k you too!", I had forgotten how sweet the movie really is. Coming to America reminds us of the days when Eddie Murphy could do no wrong, and cameos by Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche (in a shout-out to Trading Places), Cuba Gooding Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson only add to the fun.

DVD NOTES

As part of the I Love the 80's collection, this edition of Coming to America comes with a bonus cd including the 80s hits "Lips Like Sugar" by Echo and the Bunnymen, "Chains of Love" by Erasure, "Need You Tonight" by INXS, and "Take On Me" by a-ha.