Trading Places
1983
****
Director: John Landis
Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Denholm Elliott, Ralph Bellamy,
Don Ameche, Kristin Holby, Paul Gleason
When the wealthy Duke brothers cannot agree on the question of nature versus nurture, they arrange a social experiment, in which an affluent broker and a homeless street hustler swap places. ´This smart and funny comedy is an enduring 1980s classic. The script by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod offers a clever premise and wonderfully drawn characters. The performances are great all-around. Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy come from two different schools of comedy, and Jamie Lee Curtis is a revelation in her first non-horror role. The climactic stock exchange ending is somewhat baffling.
