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Trading Places
Paramount Pictures


9.0

based on 9 reviews
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based on 1 votes
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FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R

Starring Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Belushi

Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy), a street con man and Louis Winthorpe III, a commodities broker (Aykroyd) agree to trade places after monied Mortimer Duke (Ameche) bets Billy Ray could pull in more money than Louis could on the streets.

GENRE(S):	Comedy
WRITTEN BY:	Timothy Harris Herschel Weingrod
DIRECTED BY:	John Landis
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: September 24, 2002 Theatrical: June 8, 1983
RUNNING TIME:	118 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical (Eddie Murphy).

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

But what's most visible in the movie is the engaging acting. Murphy and Aykroyd are perfect foils for each other.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

It's easily the best of the movies I've seen by the various "Saturday Night Live" alumni, and part of the reason it's funny and satisfying is that it doesn't strain. [09 Jun 1983]

Time Richard Schickel

[Murphy] makes Trading Places something more than a good-hearted comedy. He turns it into an event.

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

Trading Places is a light romp geared up by the schtick shifted by Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.

Empire Staff (Not Credited)

Saturday Night Live activist Murphy, capitalising on the promise he showed in "48 Hrs.," steals the show as the quick-witted Billy Ray Valentine in what is certainly more mainstream fare than the earlier SNL staffed capers.

TV Guide Ethan Alter

Although it tends to rely heavily on slapstick in the second half, the movie provides plenty of laughs and is one of director Landis's best efforts.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Matthew Fraser

Trading Places, which is wildly funny at times, is Murphy's film. [10 Jun 1983]

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Directed by John Landis with a surprising amount of class, though he lets some of his old ''Animal House'' vulgarity slip ostentatiously into the action.

Chicago Reader Dave Kehr

Director John Landis is so deficient in basic storytelling skills that he must spend hours explicating the most elementary plot points while and Murphy are sidelined.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Pat C. gave it a9:
The ease in which the hilarity oozes from this movie obscures its greater achievement, which is the deft way it presents its plot. It takes a broad spectrum of characters and plays them off each other in a merciless mix of outrageousness and serious restriant. This is textbook on how to tell a story. Top drawer comedy.

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Trading Places Paramount Pictures

Trading Places
Paramount Pictures