What the Hell Happened to Eddie Murphy?

[TMC]

http://lebeauleblog.com/2012/01/31/what-the-hell-happened-to-eddie-murphy/

Posted by lebeau

By this point in the “What the Hell Happened?” series, a pattern has
developed. The career usually begins with TV roles or modeling gigs.
Then a big break, super stardom and a stint on the A-list.

Sometimes the celebrity rides on the top of the a-list for years.
Other times, they come crashing down relatively quickly. Eventually,
their time in the spotlight ends. Sometimes they flame out in a
spectacularly public fashion. Other times, they just walk away.

Eddie Murphy’s story breaks from the formula. Sure, there is a rise
and fall. But in Murphy’s case, there’s not just one.

Murphy rose to superstardom, slipped into irrelevance, reinvented
himself as a family friendly leading man, had a scandal, dropped into
obscurity, and then threatened to stage a come back multiple times
without ever actually coming back.

In fact, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to tackle Murphy as soon
as possible. He was dangerously close to a come back as recently as a
few months ago. Word of mouth on Tower Heights was that it would
reignite Murphy’s career. His friend, Tower Heights director Bret
Ratner, hired him to host the Academy Awards. Murphy was poised for a
comeback.

Then Tower Heights disappointed at the box office, Ratner quit the
Academy Awards show in scandal and Murphy quietly excused himself.
The come back was cancelled.

But before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s start at the beginning
of the story.

Murphy started performing as a stand-up comedian as a teenager. At
17, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.

In the early 80s, SNL was in its first real slump. It was actually
facing the possibility of cancellation. Murphy and co-star Joe
Piscopo were the sole stand-outs of the cast and arguably saved the
show.

While Murphy was still on SNL, he made his feature film debut in
1982′s 48 Hours.

I don’t think the impact of 48 Hours can be over-stated. It wasn’t
just a smash hit. It practically invented a genre that would dominate
the film landscape for the next decade. The buddy cop movie began
with Nolte and Murphy in 48 Hours.

Murphy was already a star on TV. But 48 Hours made him a movie star.
The Golden Globes named Murphy the New Star of the Year.

The following year, Murphy teamed with SNL alumn Dan Aykroyd in
Trading Places. Trading Places was directed by John Landis who would
work with Murphy two more times. The rich man/poor man comedy was an
even greater hit than 48 Hours.

Murphy was 2 for 2 in Hollywood and was still a star on TV. He was
nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for
Trading Places. Plus he had a hit stand-up comedy special in Eddie
Murphy: Delirious that same year.

Ghostbusters was originally written with Eddie Murphy and John Belushi
in mind.

Murphy’s career was hot. He wasn’t just a rising star. He was
shooting straight to the top. Following Trading Places, Dan Aykroyd
actually wrote a part in Ghostbusters specifically for Murphy. Murphy
was unable to work it into his schedule due to his commitment to
Beverly Hills Cop, so the part went to Ernie Hudson instead.

In 1984, Murphy made his first misstep. He appeared in the notorious
turkey, Best Defense.

Test screenings for the Dudley Moore comedy were so horrible that the
studio created Murphy’s part after the fact. The movie was then
marketed as an Eddie Murphy movie despite the fact his role is a
glorified cameo. He’s even credited as a “strategic guest star”.

When he hosted SNL later that year, Murphy joked about the failure of
Best Defense and how he thought it might have killed his movie
career. He jokingly admitted to making Best Defense for the money.

Later that year, Murphy rebounded with Beverly Hills Cop.

Beverly Hills Cop was the movie that made Murphy a star. Up until
this point, Murphy was a rising star. But Beverly Hills Cop cemented
his A-list status with authority. It also nabbed him another Golden
Globe nomination.

Before Murphy signed on to star in Beverly Hills Cop, Sylvester
Stallone was attached to the project. Stallone famously walked off
Beverly Hills Cop because he was uncomfortable the comedy.

When Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop was a huge action-comedy hit, Stallone
responded with his version of the movie.

Stallone’s Cobra was only unintentionally funny. It highlighted the
changing tides as Murphy eclipsed Stallone on the A-list.

How big was Murphy after Beverly Hills Cop? Big enough that he was
allowed to start a recording career. Big enough that Rick James
produced his record. And big enough that his single, Party All the
Time, was actually a hit in spite of sounding like this:

Party All the Time has to embrass Murphy today. It qualifies him for
one-hit wonder status. But it also speaks to just how big of a star
he was at the time. They don’t let you make a vanity record unless
you’re a superstar.

1986′s The Golden Child was originally an action adventure movie
intended for Mel Gibson. But when Gibson dropped out, Murphy stepped
in and it was reworked as an action/comedy.

The Golden Child was a hit, but it was a disappointment in comparison
to Beverly Hills Cop or even Trading Places. It still did better than
Cobra though.

Around this time, Murphy had another interesting missed opportunity.
Originally, Murphy was supposed to appear in Star Trek 4. He was a
big Star Trek fan, but a deal couldn’t be struck. So instead the part
was re-written as a love interest for Captain Kirk. On the whole, I’m
going to venture that one worked out for the best.

In 1987, Murphy returned to Axel Foley for Beverly Hills Cop 2. The
sequel, directed by Tony Scott, was flashier and more violent than the
first film. Critics complained that Beverly Hills Cop 2 was a louder,
paler imitation of the original. In spite of bad reviews, Cop 2 was a
hit at the box office.

Later that year, Murphy took a victory lap in the form of the stand-up
comedy performance film, Raw. Raw was also a hit.

In 1987, Murphy reteamed with his Trading Places director, John
Landis, for Coming to America. Coming to America was a gamble for
Muphy. He broke with the action/comedy formula for a romantic comedy
that bordered on being a fairy tale.

The gamble paid off. Coming to America received mostly positive
reviews and was a hit at the box office. Murphy seemed to have made
the transition from foul-mouthed action star to romantic leading man.

Murphy sought to build on that success later that same year with
Harlem Nights. Once again, Murphy was cast as a romantic leading
man. But this time, he was also the film’s director. And to sweeten
the deal, Murphy got to work with two of his idols, Richard Pryor and
Redd Foxx.

Unfortunately, Harlem Nights wasn’t as successful as Coming to
America. The reviews were toxic. And while the movie didn’t bomb, it
was a disappointment by Murphy’s standards of the time.

In 1990, Murphy retreated back to action films for the 48 Hours
sequel, Another 48 Hours.

Everything about Another 48 Hours is a lazy as its title. Murphy in
particular looks bored to be there. This is a criticism that will
come up again and again in Murphy’s later work. The energetic
comedian who electrified audiences in the original 48 Hours was
nowhere to be seen in the sleepy sequel.

Like Harlem Nights, Another 48 Hours got toxic reviews. It’s box
office performance was not an abject failure. In fact, it outgrossed
the original. But it was a disappointment compared to expectations
for a Murphy action/comedy following Beverly Hills Cop.

In 1992, Murphy made another bid for being a romantic leading man.
Boomerang cast Murphy opposite leading ladies Halle Berry and Robin
Givens.

The reviews for Boomerang were mixed. But the box office was
reasonably strong. After Harlem Nights, Boomerang could be seen as a
victory for Murphy albeit a modest one.

The same can not be said for The Distinguished Gentleman.

Disntinguished Gentleman once again cast Murphy as a conman. It was
the sort of role that made him a star in Trading Places. But the
Murphy of old was nowhere to be found in The Distinguished Gentleman.

When the trailer for Tower Heist was released, I remember people
commenting that it seems like Eddie Murphy was doing an impression of
Chris Tucker doing Eddie Murphy. That started with The Distinguished
Gentleman. Whenever post-Cop Murphy tried to make a movie like the
pre-Cop Murphy, something about it wrang false.

The reviews called the comedy “tepid” and audiences failed to show up.

Murphy sought to revive his flagging career by returning to his star
making Axel Foley role for Beverly Hills Cop 3. John Landis, who had
directed two of Murphy’s biggest box office hits, came on to direct
the sequel. But Beverly Hills Cop 3 flopped. The franchise was
effectively killed although from time to time there is talk of a
fourth film in the series. Recently, there has even been talk of a
Beverly Hills Cop TV show.

In 1995, Murphy hit what would be seen at the time as a career low
point with Vampire in Brooklyn. Vampire in Brooklyn is a bizarre
horror/comedy hybrid which is actually directed by Wes Craven.

Murphy summed up Vampire in Brooklyn’s failure thusly: “ ”The only way
I was able to do Nutty Professor and to get out of my Paramount deal,
I had to do Vampire in Brooklyn. But you know what ruined that movie?
The wig. I walked out in that long-haired wig and people said, ‘Oh,
get the f–k out of here! What the hell is this?’”

Murphy’s career slump turned around with an unlikely project. In
1996, Murphy starred in a remake of the Jerry Lewis comedy, The Nutty
Professor. The original was kind of a Jeckly and Hyde story with
Lewis’ version of Hyde serving as a satire of his former comic
partner, Dean Martin. In Murphy’s version, he wore a fat suit.

I remember hearing about the project and thinking there was no way a
Nutty Professor remake could be a hit. Much less one that centered on
a fat suit. However, Murphy seemed energized for the first time in
years.

Where Lewis satirized Dean Martin, Murphy seemed to be satirizing his
old comic image. And the fat suit allowed him to hide in a character
in a way he never had before.

Reviews for The Nutty Professor were mixed. Many didn’t like the
crass “fart” humor. But most praised Murphy’s performance in multiple
roles. More importantly, Nutty Professor was a hit at the box office.

Murphy followed up The Nutty Professor with a return to the action
genre in Metro in 1997. And just that quickly, the comeback lost its
momentum. What should have been a return to Murphy’s glory days in 48
Hours and Beverly Hills Cop was instead a critical misfire and a dud
at the box office.

It seemed like Nutty Professor might just be a fluke.

Making matters worse, Murphy had an embarrassing scandal. He was
stopped by police for picking up a transvestite prostitute in a bad
part of Hollywood. Murphy explained that he was up late due to a bout
of insomnia and was trying to be a Good Samaritan. He told People
magazine, that it was “an act of kindness that got turned into a f—
king horror show.”

You might think that kind of publicity would hinder Murphy’s career
transformation from foul mouthed comedian into a kiddie movie star.
But you would be wrong.

Murphy started the summer of 1998 with some memorable voice work as
Mushu the dragon in Disney’s Mulan. And then a couple of weeks later,
he had a massive live-action hit in the family comedy, Dr. Dolittle.

Against all odds, Murphy had reinvented himself. The brash, vulgar
comedian from Raw, 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop was gone. In his
place was a fairly sedate guy who let animals and cute kids do most of
the heavy lifting. But it was a formula that worked.

There’s an entire generation that only knows this Murphy. The guy
from the bland family films. It really blows my mind to think about
it. I wonder what their reaction will be when they eventually see one
of Murphy’s earlier films. Probably a lot like my reaction the first
time I saw Robin Williams’ stand-up after knowing him primarily as
Mork.

With the 1-2 punch of Mulan and Dr. Dolittle, it looked like Murphy
was back in business. But an Eddie Murphy comeback never lasts very
long. Later that year, Murphy starred in Holy Man. Murphy himself
called Holy Man a horrendous movie. Critics and audiences agreed.
Holy Man bombed.

In 1999, Murphy co-starred with Martin Lawrence in the prison comedy-
drama Life.

Murphy had given Lawrence his start in Boomerang. But by this point,
they were on roughly even footing in Hollywood. Life got very mixed
reviews and was a disappointment at the box office. Especially
considering the pairing of two high-profile comedic stars.

Later that year, Murphy got better results teaming up with comedy
legend, Steve Martin, for Bowfinger. Bowfinger once again allowed
Murphy to play multiple roles. Murphy scored some of the best reviews
he had received in years and Bowfinger was a solid if somewhat
unspectacular hit.

In 2000, Murphy put the fat suit back on for Nutty Professor 2: The
Klumps.

Since Murphy’s multiple performances as the Klump clan was the most
popular aspect of the original film, the sequel beefed up these
parts. The critics weren’t especially kind calling the movie “crass”
and “vulgar”. But audiences still showed up enough to make Nutty 2 a
hit. A third movie in the franchise has been in the planning stages
for some time.

Summer 2001 looked a lot like Murphy’s successful summer in 1998. It
started with voice work in an animated hit (this time Dreamwork’s
Shrek) and was followed by another Dr. Dolittle movie. Reviews were
mixed as critics got tired of Murphy’s family film formula. But
Dolittle 2 was another hit.

In 2002, Murphy tried to break away from the kid flicks to disasterous
effect. He started off the year by teaming with Robert De Niro (who
was in the process of reinventing himself as a comic actor) in the cop
comedy flop Showtime.

Then came the sci-fi comedy, The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

Nash had actually been sitting on a shelf for two years before finally
being released in 2002. It was an extremely expensive movie starring
a big Hollywood star. But it was so bad, the studio waited two years
to release it.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash is one of the most infamous turkey’s of
all time. And 2002 was arguably the worst year of Murphy’s career.

Murphy scored a failure tri-fecta with the big screen adaptation of
the TV show I, Spy co-starring Owen Wilson. Murphy was nominated in
two categories for all three of his 2002 films at the Golden Razzies.
He was nominated for Worst Actor and Worst Screen Couple (along with
De Niro, Wilson and his own “clone” in Pluto Nash).

After 2002, you can hardly blame Murphy for retreating into unispired
family comedies. It seems like all he has to do is show up and the
movies make money. In 2003, Daddy Day Care was universally panned.
And yet, it was a big enough hit to merit a sequel.

Murphy actually skipped the sequel which bombed without him.

As a fan of Disney theme parks, Murphy’s next movie pains me.

The Haunted Mansion is one of the most beloved theme park attractions
in the world. But the big screen adaptation is a big, bloated unfunny
mess. Reviews were brutal. But family audiences didn’t care.
Amazingly enough, The Haunted Mansion was a hit!

In 2004, Murphy returned to voice Donkey again in Shrek 2. We’ll talk
more about the Shrek franchise later. For now, suffice it to say that
Shrek 2 was for a time the highest grossing animated feature of all
times. Another family-friendly hit for Murphy.

Other than voicing Donkey, Murphy was not seen on screen between The
Haunted Mansion in 2003 and Dreamgirls in 2006. Dreamgirls, based on
the Broadway musical, was a game changer for Murphy. For once, he had
a meaty supporting role instead of a bland leading role in a toothless
family comedy. Murphy was clearly energized by the material.

Not only did Murphy get the best reviews he had received in years, but
he actually got some awards recognition. After multiple Golden Globe
nominations, Murphy finally took home the prize for Best Supporting
Actor. He also scored an Oscar nomination. But instead of winning,
Norbit happened.

If Dreamgirls opened doors for Murphy, Norbit came along and quickly
closed them.

Norbit was called “ugly” and “vile”. It was universally despised by
critics. And it embodied every criticism people had made about Murphy
since The Nutty Professor. It was lazy and crude. Murphy hid behind
make-up and a fat suit. The “humor” relied on offensive stereotypes.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. If Academy voters were thinking
of rewarding Murphy for Dreamgirls, Norbit came along just in time to
change their minds. Whether or not Norbit actually cost Murphy an
Oscar can never be known. But there’s no doubt it didn’t help
matters.

Instead, Murphy won three Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Actor,
Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Supporting Actress for the parts he
played in Norbit.

In spite of the toxic reviews, Norbit was a hit. But it was a hit
that would hurt Murphy’s career more than it helped him.

In 2007, Murphy cashed another big Shrek paycheck for Shrek the
Third. Shrek 3 made money. But it was a disappointment when compared
to the previous films. The franchise was running out of gas.

In 2008, Murphy returned to family films with Meet Dave.

Meet Dave has something to do with aliens. And, if I understand this
correctly, Murphy plays a space ship filled with tiny little aliens
whom he also plays. I could be way off base. Frankly, this is one of
those cases where I’m just not going to make the effort to figure out
what Meet Dave was all about.

The point is, it was an embarssing flop. It was Pluto Nash
territory. Meet Dave became a national punchline in much the same
way. Following the critical drubbing of Norbit, the last thing Murphy
needed was a flop at the box office. Especially one the critics also
hated.

In 2009, Murphy made another very bland family comedy. In Imagine
That, he plays a stockbroker who figures out that if he pays attention
to his daughter’s imagniary world, he can reap financial benefits.
Imagine That is one of those cookie cutter comedies about how
workaholics need to stop and spend time with their kids.

Critics and audiences were bored. While it fared better than Meet
Dave, Imagine That was another flop for Murphy.

In 2010, Murphy appeared in what was billed as the final Shrek film,
Shrek Forever After.

The Shrek series has been something of a sanctuary for Murphy and co-
star Mike Meyers. Both are gifted comic talents with prickly
reputations. And both Murphy and Meyers seem to have retreated into
the regular paychecks of voice-over work for the Shrek series.

In 2011, Murphy teamed with director Brett Ratner and co-star Ben
Stiller for the caper movie, Tower Heist.

Tower Heist had great “tracking numbers” and everyone expected it to
be a hit. People were buzzing about a comeback for Murphy. Murphy’s
buddy, Ratner, was hired to produce the Academy Awards and he hired
Murphy for hosting duties. The stars seemed to be aligning…

But then, nothing. In spite of mostly positive reviews, Tower Heist
did so-so box office. To make matters worse, Ratner resigned from the
Oscars in shame leading Murphy himself to bail out. The comeback was
cancelled before it even started.

In 2012, Murphy reteamed with the director of Norbit and Meet Dave
for A Thousand Words.

A Thousand Words has a high concept comedy premise in which Murphy
will die after uttering 1,000 words. So he has to learn to
communicate non-verbally.

Expectations were not high for A Thousand Words. Like Pluto Nash, A
Thousand Words had been sitting on a shelf for years before being
released. Predictibly, the movie was trashed by critics and bombed at
the box office.

So, what the hell happened? I think there were a number of
contributing factors. For one, Murphy shot to stardom overnight.
That kind of fame rarely lasts very long.

By all accounts, Murphy is an extremely talented and intelligent guy.
Reportedly, he has a Quentin Tarantino-like knowledge of film. I
think after his easy success, he expected to be able to tackle every
genre of film. He has said in the past that he expected The Golden
Child to be his Indiana Jones. But obviously, it wasn’t.

Partially, this is Murphy’s fault. He picks lousy scripts. He
collaborates with friends rather than strong film-makers.

I frequently say that the secret of Tom Cruise’s success is that he
works with all of the best directors. Murphy is the opposite. He
keeps making films with hacks. Who else would make three films with
Brian Robbins?

But also, I think audiences just weren’t willing to accept Murphy in
those kinds of roles. They embraced him in those early comedies and
they wanted him to stay that guy. Some of his fan base came along for
the romantic comedies, but not enough.

When audiences rejected Murphy’s attempts at growth, he got bored. It
shows in his performances. You can tell when Murphy is phoning it
in. He does it a lot. And yet, audiences rarely seem to mind. They
reward him for sleep-walking through these bland family films. So you
can’t really blame Murphy for continuing to make them.

Also, I think race did play a factor. In Do The Right Thing, a racist
character admits that Eddie Murphy is his favorite actor. In his
words, Murphy and Prince were “black, but not really. They’re more
than black. It’s different.” I think this was the attitude of a lot
of audiences when Murphy was at the peak of his career.

But in the early 90′s, Murphy started making movies with predominantly
black casts. And I think there was a perception that movies like
Harlem Nights and Boomerang were “black movies”. They were still
successful. But they didn’t enjoy the mainstream success of movies
like Beverly Hills Cop.

For the most part, I think Murphy just got bored with the parts that
made him a star. And audiences wouldn’t accept him in a variety of
parts he wanted to play. Mix in some poor scripts and directors and
you have a recipe for a career implosion.

Of all the careers I have followed in this series, Murphy’s may be the
most interesting. He rocketed to super stardom, crashed and burned,
rose from the ashes, crashed again and then reinvented himself in a
completely different genre. He’s a talented guy who is always
threatening to come back in a major way.

But he also seems content to keep voicing a talking donkey for a
living. So, who knows.

[Mack A. Damia]

On Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:31:09 -0800 (PST), TMC <tmc...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Eddie Murphy

>But he also seems content to keep voicing a talking donkey for a
>living. So, who knows.

Most overpaid actor of 2012:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/eddie-murphy-most-overpaid-actor-in-hollywood-2012_n_2238503.html

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