Then again, when jokes about bodily functions have made you millions, it’s difficult to clean up your act.įirst published in the Herald, December 1987 Since Murphy covers some of the same territory in his adult act, it might be suggested that he hasn’t exactly developed very far as an artist. The movie opens with a sketch purporting to show a prepubescent Murphy entertaining his family with a batch of off-color gags, most of them concerning various bodily functions. But the routine lacks the insight and bite of a comic who is really cooking. It’s well-directed by Robert Townsend, the director-comedian who scored such a hit with his low-budget Hollywood Shuffle, and Murphy the performer is in good shape. A lot of this has to do with the fact that he is so physically gifted, his precise timing and range of expressions can make even subpar material amusing.Īnd too much of the material of “Raw” is mediocre. However, past Murphy’s obsessions about alimony and the deceit of women (“All women have a skeleton in their closet – some women have a cemetery”), Murphy is often funny. Murphy’s schoolboy pranks stay on the surface. When Pryor’s at his best in concert, he is scandalous and cutting too, but his cuts go deep. He’s funny enough in describing sexual foibles, but his perspective is that of a brat there’s no wisdom in his work. Or, more appropriately, boys and girls, since frankly Murphy’s appreciation of human relationships doesn’t seem to have advanced past the high-school level. Murphy quickly settles into the topic that will fill the greater portion of his routine: men and women. Murphy’s imitations of Cosby and Richard Pryor are among the movie’s best bits. Murphy begins the show by acknowledging the flak he’s taken for his outrageous material, and recounting a disapproving phone call from a square Bill Cosby. His stand-up routine was taped at New York’s Felt Forum before an appreciative crowd. Murphy’s familiar predilection for “blue” material precludes the opportunity to quote him in any context not contained within a brown-paper bag. However, neither reviewers nor TV commercials are going to give away the best lines of Eddi e M urphy Raw, the comedian’s new concert film. Often, this is an accurate accusation, and it’s a complaint that’s also sometimes true of TV ads, which pack all of a film’s boffos within 30 seconds. We celebrate Pluto Nash." Unfortunately, Murphy's career never really recovered, but at least he's come to terms with that colossal flop.Film reviewers are commonly being called to task for giving away the funniest lines of a movie. During a 2016 Q&A session with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, he poked fun at the movie's subpar performance, saying, "In my house we have Pluto Nash week. Murphy, on the other hand, took it all in stride. We can only imagine how the studio's higher ups felt when they realized their golden star wasn't so golden after all. Studios made just $7.1 million at the box office compared to its $100 million investment in the project. Ouch. But with just a four percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the futuristic comedy was deemed one of the most "epic movie flops" by CBS News, which noted Warner Bros. When it was finally time to shoot, an all-star cast was assembled, including the likes of Murphy, Randy Quaid, Alec Baldwin, and Jay Mohr. According to CBS News, the process of bringing this sci-fi comedy to life took nearly two decades, thanks, in part, to script and cast changes.
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