Eddie Murphy’s career has certainly taken a 180-degree turn from his heyday, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t making some pretty great films at one time. Over the weekend my girlfriend stopped her channel-surfing on the superb late-’80s comedy Coming to America and as much as I enjoy that film, it got me thinking about another feature.
Seeing it reminded me of how she’d never seen what I believe to be the most overlooked Eddie Murphy film of all-time and one of the best romantic comedies of all-time for that matter. Boomerang, which turned 20-years-old on July 1.
I don’t know how many times I have been in a discussion involving romantic comedies and how bad they are and, in response, have offered up Boomerang as one of the best I’ve seen only to receive blank stares from those around me. Thing is, it’s not like I’m playing pretentious film critic when I mention it. It’s not like I’m labeling off titles such as It Happened One Night, The Apartment or even Annie Hall (though if you haven’t seen those you have some work to do).
No, I’m talking about a 1992 film that grossed $70 million domestically, $131 million worldwide and stars Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry (unkown at the time), Martin Lawrence, David Alan Grier, Chris Rock and Robin Givens following her widely publicized divorce with Mike Tyson. This film was a hit, and on top of that is hilarious, but no one I seem to talk to has ever seen it. What gives?
We’ll get into that question soon enough, but first let’s lay out the story.
The film centers on Marcus Graham (Murphy), an advertisement executive and playboy. Marcus seduces the ladies, loves ’em and leaves ’em for any variety of reasons up to and including what he refers to over lunch with his friends (Lawrence and Alan Grier) as “hammer time in her shoes.” Watch the video to the right for visual reference.
Propping up his image as a dog, Marcus isn’t above sleeping his way to the top, which we learn early on as his company Chantress is being acquired by fragrance giant Lady Eloise and he’s vying to be head of marketing and, in making sure his name was on the top of the pile, he allows himself to be seduced by the Lady Eloise (a hilarious Eartha Kitt).
Little does he know, Lady Eloise hasn’t run the company in years, has no power and in fact it will be incoming exec Jacqueline Broyer (Givens) that will be taking the lead as head of marketing for the new company. She’s flanked by her friend Angela Lewis (Berry) who works in the art department, but for now Marcus isn’t interested in anything outside of Jacqueline and it isn’t the job he wants, it’s her.
From here Marcus gets a taste of his own medicine. The player gets played as Jacqueline treats him the same way he’s treated women all his life. I think I’ll leave it there as I don’t want to say much more, but I love the way the story is resolved in not only a funny way, but a more authentic way. As always in these kinds of films, characters evolve and learn their lessons, but so often any measure of authenticity the story may be going for is lost in the way things are wrapped up. This isn’t to say Boomerang is true to real life, but for the kind of film we’re talking about I think it speaks to a larger truth in the end than so many others like it.
Beyond the story there is even more to behold with this film, beginning with the characters I’ve yet to mention. First there’s John Witherspoon and Bebe Drake playing the parents to David Alan Grier’s character. As the story evolves Grier’s character, a bit of an old fashioned kind of guy, begins dating Halle Berry and in one scene everyone gets together to celebrate Thanksgiving and in his attempt to impress Marcus, Witherspoon (playing Mr. Jackson) gives a lesson on how to coordinate.
Then there’s Grace Jones, playing the new face of Lady Eloise, supermodel Strangé and she’s a bit of a wild card and perfect for the role as you can see in this following not safe for work clip. Just the way she emphasizes “this” when she lifts her leg in the middle of a restaurant and says, “You are going to turn down a pussy like this,” has me rolling ever time.
It’s not the only time Jones gets the quality moments such as when she defines the “essence of sex” and wants to name her fragrance “Afterbirth” (watch here). And the commercial for the fragrance directed by Murphy’s in-house man, and sex fiend Nelson (Geoffrey Holder) is a sight to behold. Strangé It Stinks So Good!
But wait, we’re not done yet. Beyond the story, beyond the comedy (and those are just a couple of examples) there is also the soundtrack, which has a definite ’90s feel, but you can’t fault it for capturing a moment in time.
| Give U My Heart | I’d Die Without You | End of the Road | Love Shoulda Brought You Home |
We are talking about a soundtrack that launched the career of Toni Braxton with “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” and her involvement on “Give U My Heart”. A soundtrack that saw the Boyz II Men single “End of the Road” reach #1 and included the excellent P.M. Dawn song “I’d Die Without You”. It was a soundtrack that had me looking for the LaFace logo for several years, just to see what Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Babyface were putting their names on and we’re talking about artists such as Outkast, TLC, P!nk and Usher. Sure, they might not all be your style, but they knew what the people wanted.
So, if it’s as good as I’m saying, why doesn’t anyone mention it? Why can’t I find someone that says they’ve seen it?
The answer is obvious, of course, and it’s a statement regarding the diversity of the people I hang out and discuss movies with, which in my personal (and professional) life seems to largely be white people and they are the ones that haven’t seen it. In the midst of writing this article I did, however, reach out to a pair of friends of mine — one Chinese and the other a Pacific Islander — and they both remember loving it and buying the soundtrack. Again, though, this presents a cultural divide just as there was earlier this year with what is Think Like a Man, a film that shows things may actually be changing on this front… if only a little.
Think Like a Man grossed $91 million in its theatrical run domestically, which isn’t enough to topple 2011’s Bridesmaids or Just Go With It, but I was heartened to see it crushed the likes of No Strings Attached and was even able to beat Crazy, Stupid, Love. by $7 million. And if there is a comparison to be made, Think Like a Man is the closest thing to Boomerang I have seen in years and a sequel, potentially titled The Best Man, is on the way.
Yet, I don’t want to make this some big race discussion, even if it does give me a chance to present one more great clip from the movie to the right, although not as great as Martin Lawrence’s rap earlier in the film on why it’s racist to offer black people asparagus spears instead of asparagus tips.
Instead, I want to simply present Boomerang as a film you need to see if you haven’t already. And if you have, watch it again. It’s available on Netflix Instant Play (watch it here), you can watch it in HD on YouTube for $2.99 right here or rent it from Amazon for $2.99 [amazon asin=”B001B65I2M” text=”here”].
Additionally, if you’d like to learn more about the film, director Reginald Hudlin, who now serves as the President of Entertainment for BET, discussed it in a fascinating interview piece at BlackFilm.com. There he talks about an alternate ending that would have really hurt the film, how it took a year to get the script right, how Paramount didn’t want Robin Givens and how an exec actually said to him, “Look. I don’t know how you make a romantic comedy with Eddie Murphy with that big nose and big lips.” Hudlin pushed on.
Overall, forget the hows and whys and just give the movie a shot. Here’s the trailer if you need any further convincing.
