comment #1

D.Z. says ...

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20080709/121559147200.html

comment #2

lesterg says ...

Murphy was the "straight-man" in Bowfinger? Did Villarreal see the same film I did?

comment #3

BurmaShave says ...

48 HOURS, TRADING PLACES, BEVERLY HILLS COP, COMING TO AMERICA, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, BOWFINGER. That's it. Not too shabby, still. He's very good in DREAMGIRLS but it's not an Eddie Murphy movie.

Oh and VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN, THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH and NORBIT can't quite negate all of that. Finally, HARLEM NIGHTS is a noble failure, as is LIFE. The defense rests.

comment #4

jesse says ...

I think marking the second downfall as beginning in '98 is a little unfair, if only because Bowfinger in '99 is one of the two or three best movies he's ever been in, with two of his best performances ever that are more, as lesterg points out, than "straight man" parts. If anyone is the straight man in that movie, it's Martin, and he's hilarious too. Plus Life also came out in '99 and by most accounts it's at least a noble effort (I haven't seen it, though I always meant to).

It's depressing to me that it's been almost ten years, though, since Murphy worked with a good comedy director. A lot of mainstream comic actors have careers that are about half crap; I think that's just the nature of trying to make comedy, especially in a big-studio system. But Murphy's resume for the past ten years reads like the bad half of Steve Martin/Ben Stiller/Jim Carrey/Mike Myers/Adam Sandler, doubled.

But his performances in Bowfinger are inspired. Imagine if he worked with, I dunno, Greg Mottola or someone else skilled with broad comedy.

comment #5

tommysunshine says ...

This article is bogstandard hackery, I think it was commissioned late in the preceeding afternoon when his editor noticed Murphy had a new movie out and wasn't doing any press. Coming to America was not a 'classic', The Distinguished Gentleman was not a colossal flop and no mention made of his 92 comeback Boomerang.

Welles, I was at school in London this time fifteen years ago and dimly recall a storm about you and Last Action Hero. This might not be something you wish to revisit but if it is please enlighten us on what exactly happened. You've been on such inspired form lately and it would be great to hear the full truth.

comment #6

GLee2112 says ...

why does he keep making these incredibly bad kid's movies? the edge he once had is so far gone it's laughable. he's nearly as unfunny these days as robin williams.

comment #7

vansmith says ...

how about the picture with Deniro, i thought that was funny. Look the guy is funny, flat out, but its hard to make a good picture, its really fucking hard. all these comedic actors-who's made more movies than him? no one. you see its the fact that he's an asshole that always have people throwing him under the bus about his movie choices. But you know who loves him? THE STUDIOS!!!!

comment #8

T. S. Idiot says ...

"bogstandard hackery"? I think I drank that once in an Irish pub.

comment #9

FNG says ...

It is about time somebody got the record straight about the box office.

Mr. Eddie Murphy, love him, hate him or indifferent to him, is the most successful box office star of the modern era, unadjusted for inflation, of course.

It is NOT Samuel L. Jackson. While Sam the Man is by far the better actor, he is not the box office champ both he and his management camp so shamefully claim. I cannot believe even Guinness of World Records bought their sh*t. To hear and read the perpetrated fallacy that he is responsible for all of the box office to films he has "appeared" in is ludicrous.

Mr. Jackson does not line up people on opening weekend. The majority of his films that have made money only feature him as a supporting player: Jurassic Park, Star Wars Prequels, 1408, Jumper, XXX, A Time to Kill, so on and so forth. He should not be able to claim those films as "his."

Most films that Samuel L. Jackson headlines, such as Home of the Brave, The Man, Freedomland and Formula 51, do not make money. Black Snake Moan & Resurrecting the Champ were recent good films or at least featured knockout performances from the thespian, but made next to nothing at the box office.

Now, he does have some drawing ability as he has had some sizable hits as a lead or co-lead star. Rules of Engagement, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Unbreakable, Shaft, Changing Lanes, The Negotiator, S.W.A.T. and Coach Carter to name a few. Those are well-earned box office points, and he deserves kudos for helping to bring people to the theater and for also giving nothing less than a very good performance with each film. I truly believe he is one of America's finest film actors.

That being said, Samuel L. Jackson is the most overrated box office star in Hollywood. And he has no shame promoting himself as the biggest movie star in history. It is beyond disgraceful.

Eddie Murphy, great actor or bad actor, deserves the throne he has so rightfully earned. Mr. Murphy lines people up at the box office by being the STAR of most of "his" films. He can even bring in the audiences with sh*t like Norbit. H*ll, most of his films are crap. But they make money nonetheless.

Box Office Mojo's top box office stars of the modern era (unadjusted for inflation, of course):

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/?view=Actor&sort=sumgross&p=.htm

comment #10

Cadavra says ...

"it's been almost ten years, though, since Murphy worked with a good comedy director."

If you were a good comedy director, would you waste a year or more of your life with a difficult, demanding asshole? Just askin'.