Coming to America is hailed as one of the funniest comedies of the 1980’s, and it is easy to see why. There are so many memorable moments and quotable lines in the movie, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall play a million different characters like clockwork, and the absurdity of their culture shock in Queens hits you like a freight train. The repetition of different bits, from the McDowell’s knockoff to the barber shop conversations, breathe humorous life into its world. The side characters like Cleo and Reverend Brown get the personalities and attention that deserve, and they are not disposed for the sake of narrative. I have to also mention the surprisingly wonderful visuals, contrasting the run-down neighborhoods of Queens from the colorful enormity of the royal palace. It may be stereotype humor, sure, but they thread it in with such precision and comicality that it only produces laughs. Semmi plays the foil to Akeem brilliantly. Unlike Akeem, he is both comfortable with the life back home and unbothered by his elevated social position.
I love that the entire narrative revolves around Akeem’s desire to break free from the shackles of regality. His mission really is to achieve the freedom of normalcy, and along the way, find a genuine bride for himself. Having his main conflict involving obscuring his high status from Lisa is a subversive stroke of genius by Landis. Akeem clearly has sensibilities for genuine human interaction and normal life, but it is comedically balanced with his life inexperience. The whole movie is a quest for integration and personal freedom that deserves the happy ending.
Yes! Yes! Fuck you, too!
