Featuring a gorilla-human rape, blackface, and a clichéd tart with a heart as the only female character, there is so much that is wrong with 1983’s Trading Places that it's actually hard to type down. And yet somehow, astonishingly, it manages to redeem itself not only with a hilarious Eddie Murphy at his 1980s peak, but also astute social commentary which is surprisingly relevant in 2020.
Starring Eddie Murphy as dirt poor street hustler Billy Ray Valentine, who swaps places with Dan Aykroyd’s preposterously pompous Louis Winthorpe III, the movie explores the intersection of race and class via madcap, screwball comedy. The pair have been set up by conniving financiers, the Duke brothers, who wonder what would happen if a posh idiot were to swap lives with the lowliest street hustler. Does Winthorpe deserve all of his unimaginable privilege because of superior genes? In the face of adversity, will his good breeding come to the fore?
Of course, Valentine, after some initial trepidation, soon becomes accustomed to a life of luxury. He cuts a dash in beautiful bespoke suits, which should be on the mood board of every Savile Row tailor. He really does look fantastically lithe and sharp. But not only that, the instincts he uses to survive on the streets are equally effective on the trading floor and the boardroom. Given the opportunity, he thrives as if to the manor born.
Winthorpe, on the other hand, does not fare so well. His downfall is delicious, because it so rarely happens in real life. He loses everything: his beautiful preppy girlfriend, American Express credit cards (a big thing in the 1980s), membership of the most exclusive clubs in town and, in a pivotal scene, his watch.
Down on his luck, without a dime to his name, Winthorpe stumbles into a pawn shop. "This is a Rochefoucauld,” he says, “the thinnest water-resistant watch in the world. Singularly unique, sculptured in design, hand-crafted in Switzerland, and water resistant to three atmospheres. This is the sports watch of the 1980s. Six thousand, nine hundred and fifty-five dollars retail! It tells time simultaneously in Monte Carlo, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, and Gstaad!"
The disinterested pawnbroker, played by Bo Diddley, gives him $50, which Winthorpe uses to buy a gun and shoot himself in the head. For years, I thought the brand was a joke. But a quick google reveals that Rochefoucauld is indeed a real brand that makes a very expensive World Complication, which in 2020 money retails for around $28,000. The 1980s, it seems, are back.
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