Coming to America

Subtlety is not Mr Murphy's strong point, but on the, whole his spiky charm saves both him and the movie.

John Landis directs the slim affair at a riskily leisured pace; but with some enjoyment from supporting characters such as James Earl Jones as the King and Eriq LaSalle as the Prince's rival for spunky Shari Headley.

This comedy is generally tame and sappy... what we get is homogenized Eddie Murphy, drained of his kinetic comic charm and smiling sass.

Murphy has dealt audiences the movie equivalent of a royal flush and he is now clearly Hollywood's reigning king of comedy.

The director is ... rather distracted; John Landis seems to be browsing through the scenes rather than gobbling them down.

Starts on a bathroom joke, quickly followed by a gag about private parts, then wanders in search of something equally original for Eddie Murphy to do for another couple of hours.

What a pleasure it is to see such a glamorous array of black people on screen.

Even Akeem's gentle African lilt seems like Murphy trying to distance himself from his star persona, if not demonstrate his range.

It is charmingly old-school in plenty of regards - while remaining quotable.

At its release was unlike any other film before with such a broad all black cast. This film is funny, at times corny, but always sticks to the main character's heart lead goal