UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Takeshi-K Masquerading as light comedy, this is actually a really clever satire for what it is. Its better than Wag The Dog and Idiocracy and is an easily digestible version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Eddie Murphy plays a naive but slightly corrupt huckster who believes getting into office in Washington will give him the kind of cushy job that will pay him well to do very little actual work. When he encounters what the job actually entails, he is forced to question his place in the world and in a heartwarming way achieves what in reality is utterly impossible; doing the right thing in Washington free from the unnecessary corruption that drives it.

elshikh4 This script is so smart. It's like (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) yet after changing the lead character from unsophisticated honest to sophisticated dishonest. And the aim is foxy; as when a hustler goes to the Congress he would be a very slight one. It got the journey that makes that little conman has a redemption out of beating the bigger conmen. I loved countless details and scenes. The clueless yet enthusiastic speech of "read my lips", "I know nothing about poultry, but I know people. So if you people come to me and say something about poultry…I'm going to listen", plus the scene of "what law you voted for?!" were certainly the best when it comes to define the true and bitter sarcasm of this script. (Eddie Murphy) was nice. I loved him while talking "white", or imitating Martin Luther King. And it was a good choice for his 11th movie. Clearly with (The Distinguished Gentleman) the man wanted to make comedy with something serious in the mix this time. But as a whole it wasn't a distinguished movie itself. It was somewhat like a worthy of Oscar material with a worthy of Razzie direction! The direction didn't give the matters its appropriate shadows. The artistic factors are none. All the scenes were made similarly. For instance there were, in most cases, no different uses for the lighting so all the scenes looked the same. The sets didn't embody the stateliness of the Congress, not even outwardly. The music didn't play any role, it wasn't funny, or serious; simply weak. Sometimes I felt that I was watching a bad TV episode done on a too limited budget too. Sure with another director that might have been one memorable political satire. The casting of the powerful guys wasn't powerful. They looked less menacing than what they are supposed to be. Over and above the script weakened itself by its very ending; actually after clever climax it inclined to be farcical for the sake of being happy. Simply the lead went and exposed a scheme that will push him into jail, while we see him, right after it, free, so honored, and thinking of running for presidency ??!! Well, they wanted it just a comedy after all. However it wasn't that highly attractive. And as a serious movie it didn't achieve much with the very promising material that it has. Mediocre result both ways. Or disappointing if you longed for more. Wanna hear something good; this is way WAY better than Murphy's other movie from the same year, the supposed romantic comedy, (Boomerang)!

bob the moo Thomas Jefferson Johnson is a small time con artist who realises the money in politics when he overhears Congressman Jeff Johnson during one of his scams. When the Congressman dies between his secretary's legs in his office while "poling the electorate" Thomas sees his opportunity. Dropping his first name in the hope that name recognition will see him through, Thomas and his crew go to work and it is not long before they slide their way to Washington. Once in town he gets on the gravy train straight away – joining his colleagues in Congress, he is soon up to his neck in contributions and fund raisers but is this really what it is all about?Although it starts out with plenty of big, easy targets the first half of the film is lively and quite funny. The broad satire is never that cutting or intelligent but it does the job for an Eddie Murphy comedy. Unfortunately, around the halfway mark the obvious plot suddenly has Thomas develop a heart and the film grinds to a halt. Happily it gets its senses back in the final section and is a return to the lively first part – this is not to say that it is brilliant because it isn't, but it is amusing and pretty enjoyable apart from the narrative arch having a massive hole in the middle of it.The cast are mixed dependant on their material. Murphy himself is on good form. His con artist character suits his on screen personae and he works the dialogue really well – he is all at sea when he has to convince the audience of the change in his character but he moves through that as quickly as he can. The supporting cast are all in his shadow on this but at least there are plenty of famous faces. Smith, Dutton, McBride, Baker, Ralph and McCarthy all add an ensemble feel to the film even if it is very much Murphy's vehicle. Lynn's direction is OK but he can't do much of real intelligence with the basic tools presented to him by the writers.Overall this is not the sharpest of satires but the big simple targets are still enjoyably hit. The middle section is poor but Murphy ensures that the majority of it will be good enough to please his fans even if it could have been so much better.

toolkien This is passable 80's Eddie Murphy winding its way into the 90's. The premise is o.k. mostly works. Of course there has to be the inevitable "I didn't care at first but now I do" moments. You can't have a movie about our superiors in DC without the requisite message that Good must thwart Evil. In this case it is a little waif bald from her radiation treatment as a result of cancer from dastardly power lines. Yeah, that issue still resonates.The first half of the movie is prime Eddie and punctures the fatuousness of Pols in general. Then it takes a left turn and pretty much spews out basic Hollywood rhetoric - Big Business Bad, Big Government Good. It almost spoils the movie entirely. But it pulls up a little and ends humorously enough.Murphy has put out worse, so by comparison, this deserves a 6 out of 10.