Coming to Realize

I relate to film in three overall ways. There are movies I've seen. There are movies I have not seen. And then there are those movies that I've sort of seen, catching bits and pieces on broadcast television over the years. But is seeing what I referred to as a “Channel 11” movie growing up really seeing it? If a cinematic work has been edited for content and to run in the time allowed, as well as to fit my screen, the experience is not complete.

With that mindset, I rented Coming To America the other day. There was a lot more to it than I realized, though it wasn't remotely raunchy the way guys in my high school made it out to be. I guess some things were more shocking in the ‘80s, but apart from brief nudity in the first five minutes and the occasional stray swear, it didn't seem that far off from the television version. My realizations stemmed entirely from viewing it again after all these years, after watching thousands of other movies and television programs. In no particular order, here's what I learned:

1) I'm discovering lately that Eriq LaSalle had more of a career before ER than after it. First I catch him in Jacob's Ladder over the weekend, then I see him in Coming To America as the chief nemesis. The Jheri Curl look he sported made him almost unrecognizable until he spoke and I recognized his voice.

2) La Salle was easy to spot, but not a young Cuba Gooding Jr. Blink, and you'll miss him as a young boy in a barber shop. It wasn't until the credits rolled that I spotted his name and found out his film debut. Knowing that is like knowing Elijah Wood first appeared in Back to the Future II, and trivia like that is firmly cemented in my brain.

3) Actually, the whole cast was impressive. Louie Anderson works the counter of a fast food restaurant. I wasn't sure why the love interest, Shari Headley, seemed familiar to me until I looked her up and realized I knew her better as Mimi from All My Children. I only know this because my mom taped the show and watched during dinner when I was growing up. These days she has her own television and VCR, and I have a million of my own shows to watch. I will say a soap opera can be as addictive as comic books. Anyway, rounding out the cast of Coming To America we have James Earl Jones who needs no further qualification, and John Amos, best known as the dad on Good Times. There's another notable cameo that I'll cover further on.

3) You know that thing Eddie Murphy does where he plays multiple characters in the same movie? For years I thought it originated with The Nutty Professor. That's probably the strongest example of his chameleon abilities, and might be the first time digital movie magic allowed him to play several characters on screen at the same time. But eight years prior, he was doing the same thing in Coming To America. There was no split screen or digital manipulation, only classic movie tricks. If he was sharing a scene with himself, they'd use a double whose face would be off screen when the other appeared. I probably wasn't as sharp when I was younger, or else I might have noticed the elderly barber was Eddie, a local celebrity was Eddie, and even an old Jewish man was Eddie. The makeup department deserves major props for that last one, but his vocal talent completes the illusion.



4) Queens Blvd. is a major setting for the film, as is St. John's University. A basketball game with my alma mater, or some outside shots in places where I frequented in college gives the film a sense of familiarity now.

6) Where is Arsenio? Eddie's not the only one playing several roles, just the stronger of the duo. But it did remind me how big Arsenio Hall once was. Come back, Arsenio. I don't blame you for letting Clinton play sax on your show, a performance that probably got a lot of people to vote for him. No, wait; yes I do.

7) The best realization I had while watching the film is a small role that probably wouldn't be considered a cameo, because the actor in question had yet to become a household name. To win the girl of his dreams, Eddie's Prince Akeem has taken a job at her father's fast food place as a common laborer, his royalty a secret. While conversing with her in the restaurant, a loud-mouthed bad m*****f***er storms in with a shotgun. Who else but Samuel L. Jackson could play a role like that to perfection? I may have jumped up and applauded the second I heard him.



There's something to be said for revisiting classics or even seeing them for the first time, because a lot of elements have more meaning now.