Director Report Card: John Landis (1983)

7. Trading Places

In 1982, John Belushi died of a fatal drug overdoes. His hard partying ways had finally caught up with him but the entertainment world mourned the loss of a great talent. Yet the same show that brought Belushi to fame, “Saturday Night Live,” would also birth another great star in the early eighties. After becoming popular on the sketch comedy show, Eddie Murphy would co-star with Dan Aykroyd in a John Landis film, much like Belushi did before him. The three would collaborate on “Trading Places.” Originally conceived for Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, it would instead become another early success for Murphy and another iconic comedy hit for its director.

Louis Winthorpe and Billy Ray Valentine could not be more different. Winthorpe is the manager in the employ of Randolph and Mortimer Duke, two obscenely wealthy commodity brokers. He lives a life of refinement, with his money and high society girlfriend. Valentine is a homeless con man, who pretends to be a double amputee blind veteran to panhandle for cash. After a chance encounter between the two, the Duke brothers decide to make a wager. One brother believes success is entirely genetic, while the other thinks circumstances plays a role. So they ruin Louis' life, framing him for theft and drug dealing, stripping away his entire fortune. They grab up Valentine and teach him how to be a commodity dealer. Soon, Louis is living with a hooker and plotting murderous revenge, while Billy Ray adapts to the rich life with ease. However, the two men cross paths again and realize they've both been screwed by the Dukes, deciding to take revenge.

“Trading Places” largely concerns itself with the idea of nature vs. nurture, a debate people have been arguing about for hundreds of years. It's pretty clear which side of that argument the film comes down on. His riches and life of luxury being torn away leaves Louis a broken mess. When given all the opportunities money can provide in America, Billy prospers. The film exaggerates this idea for comedic effect. Within the span of weeks, Louis is a drunken Santa Claus grunting nonsensically while stealing whole plates full of food. A degree of fish-out-of-water humor arises from Valentine's initial induction into his new life, an inspired gag involving a vase. Yet he's soon chastising his old friends for their behavior in his new house. Though it plays these changes for laughs, “Trading Places” clearly makes its point.

Yet the film is truly not too concerned with the age-old question of nature vs. nurture. A life of disadvantages leading someone to desperate decisions is almost self-evident. Instead, “Trading Places” targets the rich and powerful. The Duke brothers are cartoonishly evil. They treat other people's lives like a game. As ridiculously rich as they both are, it's still not enough for them, as they plot throughout the film to make themselves even more money. Louis' friends are no better. The minute he falls on hard times, they – including his fiance – abandon him. The message is clear: If you're not part of the elite class, the rich don't even see you as human. Oh, and did I mention that this is a Christmas movie, this story of greed playing out against the season of giving and consumerism?

This, secretly, makes “Trading Places” a hugely prescient film. The original script was entitled “Black and White.” In a revealing moment, one of the Duke brothers drops a racist epitaph. That makes it astoundingly clear that the lower class that the rich dismiss obviously includes any one who isn't white. Billy ended up in jail by simply walking into a rich, white man. The cops, of course, believe Louis' story over Valentine's, the black man being accused of a serious crime simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The film presents a world in which racist old white guys operate under a philosophy of unfettered greed and needless cruelty. It is, in fact, our world. By humiliating this system, John Landis makes his most anti-authoritarian film yet. It was subversive in 1983 and, as things have gotten worst, has only become more relevant.

Putting all politics aside, “Trading Places” is also valuable for showing the world how damn funny Eddie Murphy could be. The film proves definitively that Murphy knew how to deliver the hell out of a line. Simple little moments – a glance in a bathroom, a series of questions to a limo driver – are turned into huge laughs by Murphy's smart-ass delivery. Murphy is perfectly cast as a con man, as someone who can outsmart most anyone with his sheer gumption and guile. Murphy was also an incredible physical performer. Whether it's playing the part of a limbless vet or a Camaroon exchange student, or the way he steals stuff that is technically his, Murphy reveals a smooth confidence in his abilities. He's frequently hilarious, perfectly suited to the part.

Dan Aykroyd is equally well cast as Louis Winthorpe. As displayed in “The Blues Brothers,” Aykroyd's particular ability, always slightly off-beat and stiff, makes him an ideal straight man. That inherent weirdness makes him well suited to stuck-up rich guy, who seems like he's from a different world because he basically is. Watching that facade of civility crumble as Louis suffers one misfortune after another also reveals Aykroyd's fearlessness as a comedic performer. He has no problem letting a little dog piss on him or pocketing a slice of roast beef. I'm surprised Akyroyd and Murphy didn't do more films together, as their energy compliment each other so well.

Presumably after working together on “Coming Soon,” Jamie Lee Curtis would re-team with John Landis here. From a certain perspective, it's not the most flattering of parts. Curtis' Ophelia is a stereotypical Hooker with a  Heart of Gold. She lets Louis into her apartment, out of sheer kindness. Though we never actually see them get sexual, it's heavily implied the two are sleeping together soon enough. She doesn't do drugs or have a pimp – the “distasteful” parts of being a sex worker, I guess – and is smartly saving her money. Especially from a modern perspective, this is an embarrassing reductive roles, both objectified and put on a pedestal. Yet you can hardly care about that stuff because Curtis is so damn charming. No wonder Louis falls in love with Ophelia. Who wouldn't?

Backing up these three wonderfully effective leads is an equally strong supporting cast. Two cinema legends play the Duke brothers, Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche. Both are nicely relaxed in the roles of unrepentant greedy old snobs. Ameche is even sort of likable, with a gleeful spark in his smile, even if he's playing a totally despicable character. Bellamy is more self-assured in his greed, which is ideal for the part. Also quietly hilarious is Denholm Elliot as Coleman, Winthorpe's butler. The contempt with which he regards his boss, quietly shown through snide asides. As Coleman becomes a participant in the scheme to defraud the Duke brothers, Elliot's performance happily goes to even more ridiculous levels. Paul Gleason is also nicely cast as the Dukes' henchman, the actor having no problem playing a huge asshole to the hilt.

In many ways, “Trading Places” has aged really well. Its politics couldn't be more relevant in the modern day. Even its racial elements are less clumsy than you'd imagine. Valentine is never a stereotype. Even the goofy supporting characters of color are funny more because of absurd gags, like the burly black guy who only says “Yeah!” Landis, being a sexploitation filmmaker at heart, can't help but get as much gratuitous nudity in the film. Yet one scene, in particular, has aged really badly. During the extended confidence act in the film's last third, Dan Aykroyd dons black face, a dreadlocks wig, and an embarrassing Jamaican accent. Yep, there's just no getting around that. It's awkward, to say the least. I wish I could say it fits into an overall feeling of absurdity within the film but, even playing by the world of 'Trading Places'” own rules, it feels out-of-place.

“Trading Places” generates most of its laugh from great comedians knowing their way around clever dialogue and increasingly silly situations. In its last third, that goofy streak goes to previously unseen level. That unfortunate moment of black face is part of a whole series of cultural stereotypes displayed in quick succession. That also involves an obnoxiously broad Jim Belushi, appearing in a minor role most probably meant to be played by his late brother. The calculatingly broad physical comedy and disguises climaxes with Paul Gleason being raped by a gorilla. Which would be offensive if the entire situation wasn't so ridiculous. The gorilla even makes goo-goo eyes at the disguised bad guy, as if the sequence couldn't get anymore cartoonish.

“Trading Places” is set in Philadelphia. They provides another ironic layer to the story, the premise of men being betrayed for greedy reasons playing out against the City of Brotherly Love. Landis sets up both the theme of class division and the urban location with the opening montage, which contrasts the soup kitchens, adult bookstores, and pawn shops with the fine dining and fancy nightclubs. This gives us an idea of the two worlds the film occupies, which are also the two worlds the city is made up of. The sweaty and gritty streets provide gives us a sense of Billy's world, while the bustle of the trading floor and the fancy clubs tells us what Louis is about.

Though he didn't write “Trading Places,” John Landis thoroughly makes the material his own. There's the aforementioned gorilla. Bo Diddly has a cameo as a pawn shop owner. “See You Next Wednesday” appears in the background, as some sort of melodrama. The soundtrack, when not focusing on Elmer Bernstein's classical-influenced (and Oscar nominated) score, is filled out with golden oldies. Despite getting a little too goofy for its own good in its last act, and loosing sight of its own moral a bit with that final scene, “Trading Places” is a satisfying and often hilarious comedy. Audiences in 1983 agreed. It would become the fourth highest grossing film of the year, quickening Eddie Murphy's ascent towards superstar status. [Grade: B]