Walk of Shame

"Are you in a crack house?"

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

Meghan Miles (Banks) is the anchor on a local news show.  She is one of the final candidates for her dream job.  During an uncharacteristic wild night out with her best friends Rose (Jacobs) and Denise (Olsen), she has a one-night stand and ends up stranded across town.  Her car (containing her purse) is towed, her cell phone is missing, and she is locked out of Gordon's (Marsden) apartment.  Checking her voice messages she learns that the network is coming to watch her 5 pm news show live, and that the job will be hers if she just shows up.

With her dream job on the line, she begins the journey across the city.  A few mishaps have the police on her trail and her friends frantic.  With Carpocalypse clogging the highway, can she still find a way to get to the station and land the job?


I first discovered this film when I was looking for a film to rent through Redbox.  I enjoy Elizabeth Banks and thought the film sounded interesting and planned to see it.  I went into the film blind, I didn't watch the trailer or read any reviews.

Banks is great in the title role, willing to commit to the character and whatever that entails.  She is funny and carries the film well.  The cast brings life to numerous quirky characters.  The standouts are the drug dealers, especially Alphonso McAuley's Pookie.  Bill Burr and Ethan Suplee work well as the mismatched cops and Gillian Jacobs and Sarah Wright Olsen have great chemistry as Meghan's friends.

It is a raunchy, but entertaining film.  Don't go in with expectations and enjoy the trip.

Walk of Shame (2014) 95 minutes
Rating: R for language and some sexual content
Director: Steven Brill
Starring: Elizabeth Banks as Meghan Miles
James Marsden as Gordon
Gillian Jacobs as Rose
Sarah Wright Olsen as Denise
Ethan Suplee as Officer Dave
Bill Burr as Officer Walter
Lawrence Gilliand Jr. as Scrilla
Alphonso McAuley as Pookie
Da'Vone McDonald as Hulk
Willie Garson as Dan Karlin
Kevin Nealon as Chopper Steve
Ken Davitian as Cab Driver
Oliver Hudson as Kyle

Trading Places

"Hey that's the motherf- I mean... that's the gentleman that had me busted."

Randolph (Bellamy) and Mortimer (Ameche) Duke own a successful commodities brokerage.  They disagree on most things and have opposing views on nature versus nurture.  They make a wager and decide to switch the lives of their managing director, Louis Winthrope III (Aykroyd), with a homeless con man, Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy), to see what will happen.  Louis lives a life of means, living in a home owned by the Duke's and has a manservant, Coleman (Elliott), at his beck and call, and is engaged to the Duke's niece.  Billy Ray is a fast-talking con man, that has a run-in with Louis and ends up in jail.

The Duke's bail out Billy Ray, move him into Louis' home, and give him the managing director position.  Meanwhile, Louis is arrested and loses his fiance, friends, job, and home.  Ophelia (Curtis), a prostitute, allows him to live in her apartment, with the promise that he will repay her.


This is my favorite Eddie Murphy film.  I love his chemistry with Dan Aykroyd (both were featured players on Saturday Night Live), and have this film in my personal collection.  The film re-teams Aykroyd with director John Landis (Blue Brothers; since this film Landis has made additional films with each).

Apparently this film was originally planned to be another collaboration between Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.  Pryor dropped out and was replaced with Murphy and Wilder was replaced with Aykroyd.  It is difficult to imagine anyone else in these roles.  Aykroyd and Murphy play off each other well and show their talent as comedians throughout.  Veteran actors Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche are perfectly cast as the Duke brothers and elevate every scene they are in.  Jamie Lee Curtis is endearing as Ophelia, a role that could easily go bad.  Denholm Elliott is also a smart choice for his role.  Pay attention for several entertaining cameos.

Everything works in the film.  The story grabs you from the beginning and takes you on an entertaining ride.  Definitely worth checking out.

Trading Places (1983) 116 minutes
Rating: R for language, some nudity/sexuality and drug content
Director: John Landis
Starring: Dan Aykroyd as Louis Winthrope III
Eddie Murphy as Billy Ray Valentine
Ralph Bellamy as Randolph Duke
Don Ameche as Mortimer Duke
Denholm Elliott as Coleman
Jamie Lee Curtis as Ophelia
Paul Gleason as Clarence Beeks

Beverly Hills Cop

"Have you ever driven a Mercedes before?"
"No, but a car is a car. I drive my car every day."
"I'm driving. I've seen your car."
"Oh, shit, that's cold."

Axel Foley (Murphy) is a reckless police detective in Detroit.  After setting up a sting, without permission, that causes massive destruction, he is ordered to follow the rules or be fired.  His childhood best friend Mikey Tandino (James Russo) comes to visit.  Mikey was recently released from jail and has a new security job in Beverly Hills.  That evening he is killed outside of Axel's apartment and Axel vows to avenge his friend.

Axel goes to Beverly Hills to kick-off his investigation, despite orders to leave it alone.  He suspects Mikey's employer, Victor Maitland (Berkoff) is responsible and sets out to prove it.  He runs into trouble right away and comes to the attention of the Beverly Hills police department.  Lieutenant Bogomil (Cox) assigns by-the book Sergeant Taggart (Ashton) and his naive partner Detective Billy Rosewood (Reinhold) to tail Axel.  Axel also contacts Jenny Summers (Eilbacher) an old friend who works for Victor.  Can Axel bring Maitland to justice, or will his actions get him fired?


This film was made during Eddie Murphy's career peak.  He was the strongest cast member on Saturday Night Live and made 2 wildly successful films: 48 Hrs. and Trading Places.  This film marked his first starring role, previously conceding the top billing to his co-star, and his first franchise.  The film was popular enough to green light 2 sequels, Beverly Hills Cop II and Beverly Hills Cop III.

Murphy is perfectly cast as Axel, even though the part was originally meant for Sylvester Stallone.  After Murphy was cast the part was retooled to fit his strengths and allowed him to ad lib.  His fast talking, world-wise character is evenly matched by Judge Reinhold's naive Billy.  The two work well together and combined with John Ashton's Taggart, are even better.  The plot is good, the villains are despicable and the leads are great.  The action sequences work well, including the shootout at the end.  A funny action flick that deserves all the praise it received.

Beverly Hills Cop (1984) 105 minutes
Director: Martin Brest
Starring: Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley
Judge Reinhold as Detective Billy Rosewood
John Ashton as Sergeant Taggart
Lisa Eilbacher as Jenny Summers
Ronny Cox as Lieutenant Bogomil
Steven Berkoff as Victor Maitland

Three Men and a Baby

"That's a baby."

"I know it's a baby. What is it doing there?"

"It's sleeping."

Bachelors Peter Mitchell (Selleck), Michael Kellam (Guttenberg) and Jack Holden (Danson) live in a posh loft apartment which they designed.  Peter is a successful architect, Michael is an artist and writes a popular comic strip, and Jack is a actor and ladies man.  After a party in their apartment, Jack leaves to shoot a movie in Turkey for a few weeks.  Peter and Michel discover a baby girl, named Mary (Blair), on their doorstep.  Mary is a product of one of Jack's affairs and is left in his care.

Peter and Michael know nothing about babies and attempt to care for her without cramping their work and personal lives.  Jack's part is cut from the film and he returns to learn that he is a father and joins his roommates in caring for the child.  Can they have it all and take care of a baby, especially with the police and drug dealers popping into their lives?


I grew up loving this film.  It was a treat to get to rent this from Blockbuster or the public library.  It's a funny and sentimental movie.  The baby, played by twins Lisa and Michelle Blair, is adorable, and connects well with the stars of the film.  The three actors at the center of the film had successful film and TV careers: Tom Selleck was known for action roles and chose to play against type here, and it worked well; Steve Guttenberg had just made the successful Police Academy film, which led to many sequels; and Ted Danson was starring in TV show Cheers.  They have believable chemistry and carry the film well.

The plot is good, with the exception of the drug subplot.  The film already have enough going and the subplot just takes away from the plot.  Apparently the film is based on the French film Trois hommes et un couffin from 1985, which also includes the drug subplot.  The film was successful enough to get a sequel in 1990, Three Men and a Little Lady, and apparently there is the potential for another sequel or a remake in the next few years.

A feel-good comedy.

Three Men and a Baby (1987) 102 minutes
Director: Leonard Nimoy
Starring: Tom Selleck as Peter Mitchell
Steve Guttenberg as Michael Kellam
Ted Danson as Jack Holden
Margaret Colin as Rebecca
Lisa & Michelle Blair as Mary

Gambit (2012)

"Don't be an ass, man. I'm hardly likely to be hit in the face a third time."

"Uh, that *was* the third time, sir."

"This isn't a math class!"

Harry Dean (Firth) is the frustrated art curator for British media tycoon Lionel Shahbandar (Rickman).  Shahbandar is used to getting what he wants and treats his employees poorly.  After years of abuse, Harry wants revenge and hatches a plot.  He enlists the aid of his friend the Major (Courtenay), an amateur art forger, to recreate a Monet oil painting.  Their plan also requires the assistance of P.J. Puznowski (Diaz), a Texas rodeo champion.

The plan requires P.J. to pose as the owner of the Monet.  She is supposed to sell to Shahbandar for 12 million pounds, and Harry will confirm that it is real.  However, P.J. is unpredictable and soon the plan falls apart.  Can Harry still make the plan work?


I've seen the poster for this film many times through Netflix and Redbox and finally let curiosity take over.  I enjoy Colin Firth (who doesn't?) and looked forward to trying out this film.  Apparently this film is a remake of the 1966 Gambit, starring Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine, with Herbert Lom as Shahbandar.  I have not seen the original (I only discovered it when I was reading on IMDb), and apparently it isn't on Netflix, but I would like to see it.  This version was written by Joel and Ethan Coen.

Early in the film, Firth's Harry Dean says he is going to tell Cameron Diaz's character "only enough for her to play her part."  That also applies to the audience, we only see what we need to see at any given time, which makes the final pay-off more satisfying.  Firth works well in the role, playing outside of his usual suave characters.  Alan Rickman, as usual, is satisfying as the villain... let's face it, he does play excellent villains.  Both do well here.  Diaz is fine, but I think the film would be better with a different actress in the lead.  Stanley Tucci is funny in a small, but memorable role.

It's not a bad film, although I do assume the 1966 version is significantly better.

Gambit (2012) 89 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some suggestive content, partial nudity and a rude gesture.
Director: Michael Hoffman
Starring: Colin Firth as Harry Dean
Cameron Diaz as P.J. Puznowski
Alan Rickman as Lionel Shahbandar
Tom Courtenay as The Major
Stanley Tucci as Zaidenweber
Togo Igawa as Takagawa