| | | They're Not Just Getting Rich...They're Getting Even.
Features: DVD, English, Dolby Digital (5.1)
What happens when you combine the comic genius of Eddie Murphy (Norbit, Dreamgirls) with Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters, Christmas with the Kranks) and director John Landis (Animal House, Coming to America)? You get a timeless comedy classic laced with sidesplitting, satiric humor. Murphy stars as a small time con artist who gets a chance to switch lives with Aykroyd's big time stock market maven. But their reversal of fortunes is just a cruel joke perpetrated by two bored mega rich brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) as part of an idle bet. And when the truth comes out...the consequences are sheer comedy gold!
"...one of the best comedies of the 1980s..." Almar Haflidason, BBC Online
"Hilarious chemistry between Aykroyd and Murphy." Bill Clark, From the Balcony
"...a classic comedy in every sense of the word...The premise is genius, and the situational comedy could not be better." BumsCorner.com
"...Murphy and Akroyd at the top of their game..." Christopher Null, FilmCritic.com
"Enjoyable star comedy with pleasant performances." Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress
Editor's Note
In this screwball comedy of manners, millionaire commodity brokers Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) wager a bet that pits environment vs. biology and turns the lives of their two unsuspecting victims upside down. Eddie Murphy costars as Billy Ray Valentine, a streetwise hustler who gets dragged off the street and into the proper life of top Duke Bros. broker Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd), who in turn gets tossed out of his posh townhouse and onto the mean city streets. The comic team of Murphy and Aykroyd is deliriously funny as they both struggle to comprehend their new lives. Billy Ray is forced to learn proper etiquette, manners, and business sense while uptight Louis scrambles to make it on the streets, befriending a prostitute (Jamie Lee Curtis) who takes him in and saves him from starvation--or worse. When the two innocent victims realize the scheming brothers' plot, they unite and devise a fabulous revenge to prove that their lives can't be controlled by the power-grubbing Duke brothers. The film features outstanding work by Denholm Elliott as the butler and Curtis as the prostitute with a heart of gold. Curtis especially shines in the scene in which she removes all of her hustler accoutrements to reveal her true looks.
Plot Summary
As the result of a bet between two wealthy commodities traders, the lifestyles of a street hustler (Eddie Murphy) and a blue-nosed employee (Dan Akroyd) of the brokerage are reversed. The innocent victims of the bet scramble to make it in their new foreign environments, with hysterical results. Once they discover the switch played on them, they set out to exact their comic revenge on the execs, played by the grand old actors Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche..
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital Stereo | | Audio: French, Spanish, Portugese Dolby Digital Mono | | Dubbed: French, Spanish, Portugese | | Featurette: Insider Trading - The Making Of Trading Places, Trading Stories, Dressing The Part, & The Trade In Trading Places | | Industry Promotional Piece | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English | | The Deleted Scene With Optional Audio Commentary By Executive Producer George Folsey, Jr. | | Trivia Pop-Ups |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Paramount |
| Release Date: 2/3/2009 |
| Running Time: 116 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1983 | | Catalog ID: 138504 | | UPC: 00097361385044 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Portuguese Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
British Academy Awards (1984) |  | Denholm Elliott, Winner, Best Supporting Actor | |
Golden Globe (1984) | | | Eddie Murphy, Nominee, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical | |
Oscar (1984) | | | Elmer Bernstein, Nominee, Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score | |
British Academy Awards (1984) | | Jamie Lee Curtis, Winner, Best Supporting Actress | | | Timothy Harris, Herschel Weingrod, Nominee, Best Screenplay - Original | |
Golden Globe (1984) | | | Trading Places, Nominee, Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...Murphy makes a slick segue from hustler to Wall Street wizard..." -- Rating: B 10/22/1999 pp.92-3New York Times
"...Consummately slick entertainment....[Aykroyd and Murphy] work together deftly..." 06/08/1983 p.C16 Variety
"...Landis knows well the strength of his performers and unleashes them for delightful individual moments and wacky interaction..." 06/01/1983 Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's still funny and sharp-witted..." 08/01/2007 p.138 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "Expect intelligent comedy for the 'greed is good' generation, directed by John Landis at the height of his powers" 08/01/2007 p.85 DVD Sleuth 7 of 10
Today, the idea of a Saturday Night Live cast member (or several at once) starring in a film is no big deal. However, this was a new idea in the show's early days and it took a few years for the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" to make the jump to the big screen. Once it happened, it seemed very commonplace. It then became accepted for actors from the show to work together in films. Day Aykroyd made The Blues Brothers and Neighbors with fellow SNL alum John Belushi prior to Belushi's death. 1983's Trading Places introduced a new idea, as it had Saturday Night Live cast members from two generations, Aykroyd along-side Eddie Murphy, appear together in a film...If for nothing else, Trading Places must be celebrated for its cast. Watching the film today, it's hard to believe the number of talented and familiar faces in the cast. Along with Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, and Denholm Elliot, we have Paul Gleason, Al Franken, Jim Belushi, Frank Oz, and the dad from Beverly Hills, 90210. This cast lends to the sophisticated air of the film and helps to elevate Trading Places above the other comedies of its day...In my recent review for Coming to America, I mentioned that Hollywood used to make R-rated comedies for adults, and Trading Places is a perfect example of this trend. To this day, I still don't know what the hell is happening in the commodities trading scene (Did I miss something? Is there a missing scene where they bought all of the orange juice?), but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the film. Trading Places may not be a laugh riot, but it's a solid film with funny moments and a smart satiric undertone. - Mike Long
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
"Trading Places" resembles "Tootsie" and, for that matter, some of the classic Frank Capra and Preston Sturges comedies: It wants to be funny, but it also wants to tell us something about human nature and there are whole stretches when we forget it's a comedy and get involved in the story. And it's a great idea for a story...This is good comedy. It's especially good because it doesn't stop with sitcom manipulations of its idea, and it doesn't go only for the obvious points about racial prejudice in America. Instead, it develops the quirks and peculiarities of its characters, so that they're funny because of who they are. This takes a whole additional level of writing on top of the plot-manipulation we usually get in popular comedies, and it takes good direction, too...But what's most visible in the movie is the engaging acting. Murphy and Aykroyd are perfect foils for each other in "Trading Places," because they're both capable of being so specifically eccentric that we're never just looking at a "black" and a "white" (that would make the comedy unworkable). They both play characters with a lot of native intelligence to go along with their prejudices, peculiarities and personal styles. It's fun to watch them thinking...The supporting cast has also been given detailed attention, instead of being assigned to stand around as stereotypes. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a hooker with a heart of gold and a lot of T-bills; Ameche and Bellamy have a lot of fun with the Duke brothers, and Denholm Elliott successfully plays butler to both Aykroyd and Murphy, which is a stretch...The movie's invention extends all the way to the climactic scenes, which involve, not the usual manic chase, but a commodities scam, a New Year's Eve party on a train and a gay gorilla. - Roger Ebert
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