Why Doesn't Eddie Murphy Make Good Films for Grown-Ups Anymore?

I was asked recently to provide content for wired.com in Scotland. If all goes well it may be a regular entertainment segment called (very imaginatively) Purple Monkey Dishpodcast. The one proviso for my first attempt was that I keep the length below five minutes. I wrote the essay below, and on first reading it clocked in at seventeen and a half minutes, so needless to say that most of it had to be cut out due to time constraints. Being the lazy writer that I am though, I thought I would flesh out my copious notes and display the untruncated version for the three people who read my blog. Enjoy.

Why Doesn't Eddie Murphy Make Good Films for Grown-ups anymore?

I have had this discussion more times than I care to remember, with anyone who will care to listen, and after more alcohol than I would care to describe here. The gist of my argument is that Eddie Murphy worked on some great projects during the eighties, which coalesced into a body of work of which any actor would have been proud. He was the edgiest comedian in Hollywood, with a seemingly bright future ahead. But then it all seemed to go bad, and since my teens he has been producing either mediocre comedies or movies which pander to an audience yet to grow pubic hair.

What brought this topic to mind was that I saw Murphy recently on the Tonight Show talking to Conan O'Brien talking about latest film, Imagine That. It's another kids film about... and here I'm going to stop. The plot of, or anything related to, this film do not interest me because I'm not nine, and what's more I'm intensely annoyed that he hasn't produced anything good for fans like me in the last number of years, and so I thought I would put all of those hours of drunken hard work to use and present some theories as to where Eddie Murphy has gone wrong.

Murphy's first big job was on TV's Saturday Night Live. He had come from stand up comedy, as so many of that shows cast do, and was hired to the show in 1980 during Lorne Michael's only absence as show runner. The characters which he created allowed him to rise quite quickly to the top, and he is the only person ever to host the show whilst still a cast member (he began the broadcast by mutating the usual greeting to read “live from New York, it's the Eddie Murphy Show”). Murphy was concerned though about his role as a black comedian in the predominantly white cast. He had followed in Garrett Morris' footsteps, who had been the only African American in the original line up. It is generally accepted that Morris was treated poorly during his stint, playing numerous stereotypical roles, and generally being acknowledged as the token back actor. Murphy didn't want the same fate amd told TV Guide that then producer Jean Doumanian “had tried to Garrett Morris me... turn me into the little token nigger.”

However, Murphy didn't really hang around the small screen long enough for this to be an issue. His first film 48 Hrs, was released in 1982. A buddy cop film with Nick Nolte, it isn't one of my favourite of his Golden Era roles, but it was a competent action/comedy which did good box office and raised Murphy's profile.

Directed by John Landis, Murphy made Trading Places the year after, and starred opposite fellow SNL alum Dan Aykroyd playing a vagrant who has his destiny toyed with by a pair of stockbroking brothers. It's an excellent movie that usually gets replayed around Christmas. It's worth watching again for the third act stock exchange sequence alone. Trivia fans should also note that this is the first time the allegedly hermaphroditic Jamie Lee Curtis gets her boobs out and that the Duke brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy would later show up in 1988's Coming to America.

1983 was also the year that Murphy recorded the first of two iconic stand up shows. Delirious is prolifically rude, but also prolifically funny, and lest we get off on the wrong foot, I'm not trying to suggest that Eddie Murphy needs to swear more to appeal to a mature audience. There is no automatic need for good adult humour to be profanity riddled, and in fact I have seen a lot of comedians use swear words as a crutch in order to get a laugh from soft lines. In Murphy's hands though, or on his tongue to be more accurate, the baser elements of the English language become art. I have some criticisms about his style though; at times Murphy's jokes about gay people are a little off colour and tend towards bigotry. Also, whilst Eddie is a stellar stand up, he is at his best when riffing within a structure, like he did in his next film.

Murphy left SNL in 1984, the same year that Beverly Hills Cop launched him into the stratosphere. Directed by Martin Brest (he of Gigli infamy) the first – and best – film in the trilogy sees Murphy as Detective Axel Foley, taking a trip to the aforementioned locale to solve the murder of his childhood friend. Tight scripting and above all the energy of Eddie Murphy are what make this film. The movie was originally slated to star Sylvester Stallone in the lead role. However, when Stallone left due to budgetary constraints the screenplay was heavily rewritten to suit Murphy's comic abilities. Idea's which Stallone had contributed during his association with the project were recycled to make the movie Cobra.

If you have the time you should look into another good film by Martin Brest, made during his purple patch; Midnight Run. Starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin as a bounty hunter and a mob accountant, it's a smart, heartfelt action comedy which also features John Ashton from the Cop series.

I distinctly remember the night I saw Raw, Eddie Murphy's second stand up show. It was the first night we got the movie channels, and I was just about to go to bed, when I switched on Sky Movies 25 or Sky Movies ∑, however many stations there were. There's this black guy – I don't think I had seen any of his films then – and he's wearing a purple and black leather suit, walking around on stage like he's James Brown and swishing his microphone cord in his wake. The visual was hard enough to grasp, never mind what he was saying. When I finally did start to process his comedy though, it was mesmerising. I have now seen the show so many times that the lines are second nature. The Bill Cosby story is as funny as anything I've ever heard and, unusually for stand up, it still manages to retain a feeling of freshness every time I see it.

Eddie is not the only member of his family who is gifted at telling funny stories. His brother Charlie Murphy is well-known for appearing on Dave Chappelle's short lived TV show, on the True Hollywood Stories sketches. In particular, look for the Rick James segment, which, if it is still on the site must have registered more youtube hits than Jesus, or Chocolate Rain at least.

There was a two-year stretch between Beverly Hills Cop and Murphy's next movie, Golden Child. In it Murphy plays a social worker who finds himself being deigned as “the chosen one”, selected to secure the return of a supernatural Tibetan boy from the forces of darkness. Again, Murphy was shoehorned into another actor's role, this time Mel Gibson, and the script was heavily altered to make it partial comedy. Critically the movie didn't fare well, but personally I like it. Its hokey enough to be fun without crossing over to stupidity and is like a mystical little brother to the first Cop movie.

The Sequel to the first Cop Movie was next on Murphy's docket. It was directed by Tony Scott, Ridley's little brother, who has still to emerge from the shadow cast by his older brother's work. Tony was popular during this period, having made the first of his two Tom Cruise collaborations, Top Gun (the second being Days of Thunder), but his films, while offering some striking visuals, aren't much more than by the numbers actioners.

The plot, or excuse to move between set pieces, is that Axel Foley returns to Beverly Hills to solve the shooting of Captain Bogomil. The film was nowhere near as good as the first, and critically trashed, but was profitable. The story itself is potboiler thriller, featuring perennial eighties tough girl Bridgette Nielsen, with Murphy's inclusion in the tailor-made script feeling more unusual than the first film. It works for me, but just barely, and Murphy's carrying the load here - the part worth watching anyway. I have to give credit where it's due though and say that the finished product is better than the initial idea, which was Beverly Hills Cop, now note the title, set in London and Paris. Only in Hollywood.

Arguably the last good, grown up Murphy film was Coming to America, in which Murphy stars alongside Arsenio Hall as an African prince searching for an independently-minded bride. Murphy reunited with John Landis who said the stars off screen demeanour had become unpleasant and arrogant since Trading Places. Funnily though, this wouldn't be last time they would work together. Coming to America was the first film in which Murphy played multiple roles, and he also wrote the script, although this was later disputed by Art Buchwald. Buchwald brought Paramount to court claiming that they had stolen his script treatment, and won undisclosed damages.

Coming To America marked a watershed in Murphy’s career. After this movie, Murphy started to spread himself thinner, accepting producer credits, directing in some instances which brings me to ask if one of the products of his downfall has been that he is wearing too many hats on his projects?

After that, Murphy's career went into a slump, which allows me to posit the Malcolm X, Plymouth Rock theory. If you've ever seen that film you'll know there's a scene in which Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) says “We didn't land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us”. Could it be then that Murphy didn't abandon adult movies, they abandoned him? After Coming to America, he made a string of bad movies, which still managed to make money; an Eddie Murphy hallmark. There was the sequel to 48 hrs, which was decidedly average, and the sub-par Harlem Nights which co-starred Richard Pryor and was written and directed by Murphy.

I originally saw Beverly Hills Cop III when I was twelve, and I thought it was good, great actually. In fact, I'm pretty sure that when I was twelve whatever film I had just watched was without equal, the best I had ever seen. I have since, on growing up, had to change this wider outlook as well as my opinion of this donkey's nutsack of a film. Not only is it unsuccessful as a stand-alone piece, it fails to work within the paint-by-numbers paradigm laid down by the preceding movies in the series. As of the date of writing, this is Murphy's last collaboration with John Landis and I can see why. It doesn't have the same spirit as the first or second films. All of the grit and comedy is gone from Foley's character and it seems that the reason for this lies squarely with one Eddie Murphy. Apparently Murphy told John Landis on set that Axel Foley was an adult now, and that he wasn't a wiseass anymore. Huh, really Eddie? Surely that’s what the series was built on, Murphy being a wisecracking smartass? Without that the film failed and the series has been in hibernation ever since.

This fuels theory number three. At this stage in his career, Eddie Murphy wanted to grow up as an actor, and take more serious roles. We're not talking Eddie Murphy playing Othello, but rather the kind of roles Wesley Snipes was getting, the full-on, check your comedy shoes at the door parts which he might have felt would bring him more respect than his role as action jester. Whether this is a belief which Murphy truly held is disputable though, given the path his career then took.

1996's Nutty Professor was a remake of the Jerry Lewis classic and resurrected Murphy as a box office draw, which, given that most of the humour is heavily reliant on fart jokes, is no mean feat. Murphy again played multiple roles and although the movie was popular, it's far too odorous – even discounting bowel humour – to provide any lasting appeal. The scenes in which a young Dave Chappelle spars comedically with a not-so-young Eddie Murphy are the film's only saving grace, but even then the subject of the sparring is yo mama jokes, a comedy cliche. Pandering aside though, Nutty Professor started a run of family friendly comedies for Murphy which has – sadly – endured to this day.

So why make Nutty Professor and then continue on in that vein? Eddie Murphy has kids (eight at last count), and so it would seem only natural that he would want his children to watch a movie where he doesn't use the word fuck 230 times, like 1983's Delirious. This makes some sense. Murphy's oldest child would have been about six years old when he made Nutty Professor and he continues to have the things, so why not continue to make movies they can watch with their kiddy friends on a Saturday afternoon, while they're having a play date or whatever it is kids do? Although, I'm sure the monetary rewards of being a bankable star for the pre-adolescent market are none too shabby either.

Throughout this period of his career, the Eddie Murphy movies aimed at those who had undergone puberty continued to falter. Among them were Metro, Life and the horrific Holy Man. Shortly before the release of the latter Murphy was caught with a transvestite prostitute in his car, which was surely not as embarrassing as the film itself which tanked critically and commercially.

All of this brings me to my next theory. It is harder to do comedies like Cop than it was in the eighties. The humour blueprint has shifted since the leg warmer era. All of the stand-out comedy roles these days involve the lead character showing some level of vulnerability. Just take a look at the Apatow film's doing the rounds. In both 40-year Old Virgin and Knocked Up the most interesting and comedically inclined characters are fundamentally flawed individuals. Axel Foley isn't about that. His comedy derives from his suave capering, and always knowing the right thing to say to both get himself into and extricate himself from the next hilarious situation. Getting drunk and falling down just isn't his style.

While the sheer stupidity of Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, put paid to any more sequels in that franchise, Murphy was beginning to mine another profitable seam in the form of the Shrek movies. I'm sure that there are those – of the two of you who have made it down this far – who will argue that it is here where my theory falls. Shrek, you will say, in your high, piercing voices, crosses the divide and appeals to both young and old. Well, to that I say simply, no, you are wrong. Although the quality of the writing means that the movies may pick up the fans in the higher age brackets, the film's bread and butter is and always will be the children who autistically learn all of the dialogue.

It's not all depressing reading for those of us who crave some mature Murphy though. Every now and again he'll pop in a little career viagra and produce something in the adult department worth observing. Dreamgirls managed to garner Murphy a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nom but, because it’s a musical, I haven't brought myself to watch it yet. In Bowfinger Murphy co-starred with the film's writer, and comedy legend in his own right, Steve Martin. It's about the titular struggling director, played by Martin, and his attempts to make a low budget movie. The project is to star Kit Ramsey (played by Murphy with some genuine zeal). There is only one problem, they don't have the money to hire him and so have to shoot footage of Ramsey in everyday life in order to give the appearance of his participation. The film is replete with thinly veiled references. The organisation Mind Head is clearly modelled on Scientology and apparently Martin created the Heather Graham role in tribute to crazy Anne Heche, with whom he had an affair several years earlier.

But, for the most part it was still bad news. Say what you want about Waterworld, but 2002's Pluto Nash cost $100 million to make, and recouped just over $7 million, marking it out as the largest financial flop of any movie ever made. Ever.

Norbit saw Murphy once again corralled into a fat suit for another crack at scraping the bottom of the humour-barrel. Written by Murphy and his brother Charlie, this turkey somehow managed to make over $150 million at the box office.

Murphy may well have said, if he had answered my repeated phonecalls for an interview, Why should I change? He's riding the crest of wave in his career right now, and it sure isn't his adult output which has elevated him. So, why not continue the kiddy films? I suppose I can't really argue with that (imaginary) argument other than to say that I'm selfish, and perhaps a bit childlike in that I want my real Eddie Murphy back, and I'll damn well stamp my feet and pee my pants until I get him. So there.

Ahem. So, all that aside, is there anything on the Eddie Murphy horizon to buck the child-friendly trend and get him back into the 18-35 demographic?

Well, there's the much-mooted Beverly Hills Cop IV for starters, but even at this early stage the omens aren't good. The powers that be have turned the franchise over to Brett Ratner in whom I don't have a lot of faith, given that he ruined X-Men 3. Presumably they think he can re-funny the series which, given the Chris Tucker movies he's made, isn't completely flawed logic. Although, the fact that Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced first two Cop movies recently turned down his option to be involved in the fourth doesn't bode well for the project and I get feeling that this film would be better off staying buried.

There is a small sliver of bright hope on the horizon though, in the shape of The Trump Heist. It’s a story about a group of thieves who set out to rob the wealthy inhabitants of Trump Towers. If this movie gets the go ahead, with the cast currently under consideration, we could be looking at an Eddie Murphy movie I would watch and possibly even enjoy, which is saying a lot. Eddie has already signed on and apparently Chris Rock, Dave Chapelle and Chris Tucker are in talks to round out his gang. With this ensemble I could even stomach the fact that Brett Ratner is also attached to direct this movie.

I cannot finish this piece in the same way as my podcast, which was with a sample of a laughing Eddie Murphy, but I'll go you one better and sign off with a link to my favourite Eddie Murphy piece of standup. Thanks for reading.