The Mystery of Eddie Murphy

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LMP

LMP

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He was on track to be one of the funniest people ever. Not just stand-up comedian or actor, but people ever. Some cataclysmic event must've happened in the '90s that made him and Chevy Chase both horrible unfunny, except Eddie got a break. To his credit, he's been funny on occasion (The Nutty Professor, Bowfinger, Life, and Shrek) but it's only on like leap years or full moons or something ridiculous.

What the hell happened to this guy?

05_beverly_hills_cop_I_303_404_Paramount_Pictures.jpg


and what caused him to become this guy?

norbit_1.jpg


:sad:
 
Last edited:
Children made him screamingly unfunny?

Entertainment Weekly had a cover story on him a few months ago. He wasn't interviewed for the story, but if I recall correctly, they addressed this very question.

Unfortunately, I don't remember their guess as to the answer.
 
It's the Saturday Night Live curse. How many really funny people have we seen on there whose movie careers have bombed?
 
Come on, this guy has a pretty damn good career. Yeah he had a slight lull in the 90's and a very PG comeback in the 00's. But he couldn't do wrong in the late 70's and 80's.

Delirious and Raw were some of the first of it's kind. There were few other stand up comedy videos that were common household names back then.

Then he went on to do Beverly Hills Cop series, Coming To America, Trading Places...

People would have killed for his career in the 80's alone.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:

What the hell happened to this guy?
Click to expand...

I think the 80's had a certain kind of humor that was for the most part only funny in that decade. I guess I'd use the example of how people now don't find 70's SNL funny. Eddie never seemed to adapt his comedy to the 90's and beyond. I think that is what has resulted in Pluto Nash and his other horrors.
 
His post-80's struggles is what makes something like Bowfinger so great, but frustrating. The talent is still there. He's hilarious in 2 roles in that film. Maybe he's just making bad decisions regarding which projects to pursue.
 
Oh man, I loved Bowfinger.

"Keep it together keep it together keep it together keep it together!"

"You may not show it to the Laker Girls."

"Welcome to Mind head! welcome to MINDhead! WELCOME to mindhead."
 
corianderstem said:
Oh man, I loved Bowfinger.

"Keep it together keep it together keep it together keep it together!"

"You may not show it to the Laker Girls."

"Welcome to Mind head! welcome to MINDhead! WELCOME to mindhead."
Click to expand...

:lol:

I picked that movie up in the 5 dollar pile at Wal-Mart. What a great buy :up:

Here's Eddie's Filmography. I'll bold the movies I like, but look at the career drop-off:

48 Hours (1982)
Trading Places (1983)
Best Defense (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
The Golden Child (1986)
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Eddie Murphy Raw (1987)
Coming to America (1988)
Harlem Nights (1989)
Another 48 Hours (1990)
Boomerang (1992)
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
The Nutty Professor (1996)
Metro (1997)
Dr. Dolittle (1998)
Holy Man (1998)
Mulan (1998) (voice)
Bowfinger (1999)
Life (1999)
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)
Shrek (2001) (voice)
Showtime (2002)
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
I Spy (2002)
Daddy Day Care (2003)
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
Shrek 2 (2004) (voice)
Dreamgirls (2006) [Still haven't seen]
Norbit (2007)
Shrek the Third (2007) (voice)

Everything before Harlem Nights except for Best Defense is either classic or near-classic.
 
It was the kids. Seriously. He's said so himself. When he had kids, he wanted to start making movies they could watch and enjoy = stupid unfunny shit. :up:
 
Lancemc said:
It was the kids. Seriously. He's said so himself. When he had kids, he wanted to start making movies they could watch and enjoy = stupid unfunny shit. :up:
Click to expand...

His kids enjoyed Showtime, I Spy, and The Nutty Professor II?

I'm sorry Eddie, they might be braindead.
 
He was a scream in Dream Girls. He was the only thing that made that movie bearable for me to watch. Jennifer Holiday was good, too, of course, but I just wasn't that interested in her or the film in general and left after her big number. But I was glad I saw Eddie's performance.
 
It might be the kids, seriously. Plus I suspect he might possibly have been chemically enhanced during the early years...just a guess. Sobering up will kill your funny for sure, take George Carlin...
 
You're right, he was funny in that. That's his best kids movie by far.
 
I have enjoyed him in recent films still. I'm just a bit defensive I suppose.

What I can't believe is that the Eddie Murphy from his very early stand up days (incredibly racist, sexist but humungously funny) to the Eddie Murphy in Daddy Day Care.
 
LemonMacPhisto said:
He was on track to be one of the funniest people ever. Not just stand-up comedian or actor, but people ever. Some cataclysmic event must've happened in the '90s that made him and Chevy Chase both horrible unfunny, except Eddie got a break. To his credit, he's been funny on occasion (The Nutty Professor, Bowfinger, Life, and Shrek) but it's only on like leap years or full moons or something ridiculous.

What the hell happened to this guy?
Click to expand...

My brother and I were wondering about that. He hypothesized that when Eddie became successful enough to creatively interfere with projects, things fell apart. I pinpoint the demise of his career around the release of 1987's "Coming to America". I've hated that and every other movie I've been willing to see since then. Then again, it's not like Golden Child and Beverly Hills Cop didn't have their cheesy flaws, but at least he was funny.
 
I wanna know why he was so mad at the Oscars!

yes I agree btw, he really has changed, but maybe its because he is an 80s guy.

(belongs there).


I enjoyed him in Beverly Hills cops, but in general he was best in comedies.
Nutty Professor was class, but we did not need a 2nd one.

Coming to America was one of his best.
 
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