Harlem Nights

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source: Harlem Nights

The over the top acting of Arsenio Hall was not so different from some of the acting of Lucille Ball. Face it, Harlem Nights was much more enjoyable to watch than any of the "Godfather" movies, all of which were too dark and took themselves too seriously. People actually were thinking of the Godfather movies as romantic! Watching those depressing Godfather movies many years later, I would gladly watch Harlem Nights, the sequel. Eddie Murphy was spoofing those movies.

Contrary to popular belief, this is actually a pretty good movie. The problem is that people go in expecting a goofy comedy. If so, you will find this movie to be terribly boring. The movie is more of crime and drama mixed with a little comedy here and there. The cast is excellent. The acting is superb, though its expected with names like those. The set is also good . You feel like your in the time period that the movie is supposed to be in, there are no goofs. The first half of the movie will seem a little boring with few laughs, but then the second half is much funnier. The best , and funniest line of the movie was when Dela Reese is hounding Red Fox for only leaving a "swallow fill of orange juice". He responds by saying "Well swallow it and shut the F*** up". The plot really picks up in the second half. Murphy and Pryor attempt to pull a sting on their enemies and in the end are successful. The plot is very interesting, with twists and turns here and there. You never know who to trust. Overall I would give the movie a 7. If you go in not expecting laughs, you will find it to be a very enjoyable movie.

Rated R for Strong Language,Sexual Content and Violence. Quebec Rating:13+ Canadian Home Video Rating:18A Harlem Nights is the first and only film that Eddie Murphy both directed and starred.I heard that the film was bad.It got some Razzie nominations and it has a low score on IMDb.I watched the film about two years ago and I could not find anything bad about it.I have seen plenty of Eddie Murphy films and he is a very funny actor.I think this is one of his best films actually.The film also stars Richard Pryor,Redd Foxx and Della Reese with a small appearance by Arsenio Hall.The film is basically about some casino owners in 1930's harlem who must face policemen and a gangster.Harlem Nights is funny, entertaining and very underrated.Worth watching!

I agree that the movie is laced with profanity--but then again, some of the profanity does add humor and I am an adult! Enjoyed the sets and costuming, loved the poke they took at the old gangster movies, the sting made me laugh thinking the mobsters got what was coming to them. Perhaps the most colorful character for me was was Della Reese and her interactions with Eddie Murphy--had me roaring. I gave it a 6, but maybe I need to change that to a 7.

Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor team up in this would-be comedy about nightclub owners being squeezed by organized crime. Eddie Murphy wrote and directed this obnoxious ego trip, and therefore has no one to blame but himself for its failure. This is a genuinely bad film, so completely devoid of energy and humor that it serves only as a example of Murphy's contempt for his audience. It would be remarkably easy to continue beating up on this movie, but I will show it more mercy than it showed its audience and stop now.

Three of the greatest (and dirtiest) comedians ever together in this one movie. Funny, hilarious, yes at bit off color with the many uses of the f word but still a great movie with a nice sting at the end. Get over the F word! If you haven't seen this movie in a while, go back and watch it. The first time I watched it, I was lukewarm about it. Now I go back and watch it, grateful that it was made especially since the passing of Richard Pryor (and Redd Foxx). If you haven't heard any of their stand up, go listen. It's awesome. Richard Pryor is the best. My only complaint is that Arsenio Hall's character was stupid.

This is truly one of the worst movies ever made--and I don't mean in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way. Eddie Murphy is a great comic, and it is a testament to how bad this movie is that it nearly killed his career. The writing and direction are inept, the sets and staging about as imaginative as a Brady Bunch episode, and the acting shows just how bad a great cast can be when they have absolutely nothing to work with. If it weren't for the costumes--which, aside from Eddie Murphy's ego, seem to account for the major part of the budget--you would swear this thing was slapped together by a bunch of high schoolers wasted on peppermint Schnapps. That anyone could find this travesty in any way funny or entertaining is mind-boggling. It's probably no coincidence that the misguided souls who are praising this stinker are barely literate. But if your idea of hilarity is Della Reese getting her "pinkie toe" shot off, then by all means, put aside your drool cup and go rent this movie.

...Thats right the best. This movie was a hallmark for standup comedy. For the first time you had all the greats in one movie, Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Robin Harris. Especially since the last 2 have passed away and Richard Pryor is too ill to do a movie again. When he made Nights he had to sit in his wheelchair when he wasn't filming, hence you never see him do anything physical in the movie. I first saw this movie one I was 10 with my dad, uncles and my grandmother. Of course she was turned off by the profanity but we all were laughing untill our sides hurt. I also remember all the things the great voices of cinema said about this movie. And to that i say how can you look down at this movie for profanity and praise movies like Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction (great movies by the way) when they have twice the vulgar langauge. And to those that say, well why did they portray the white mobsters as the bad guys? Well its Harlem in the 30's and ask any black person who owned a place of buisness then how hard it was. To me this wasn't just about Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, this was an epic for comedy and I hate to use the clinche but "Black" movies as well. The only other Murphy movie that comes close is Nutty Professer. I hope the sequel to that is half as funny as Nights. One last point that I think why critics panned this movie is, we all now Eddie is a comic genuis, but people were so use to seeing him play to a white partner or sidekick (i.e. Trading Places, All the Beverly Hill Cops and 48 Hours) But to a comedy standup fan like me, Murphy, Pryor, Foxx, Hall, Harris in one movie was like giving a Star Wars fan (as I am) premire tickets to Ep. 2 & 3. If you haven't seen this I recommend it just for the fact that half the cast had passed on and this was their last work, but its also a fun take on the mobster movie craze of the 30's and 40's.