Review 515: Trading Places

Trading Places is a hysterical comedy and a showcase for the brilliant comedic talents and timing of Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.

The fabulously wealthy but morally bankrupt Duke brothers (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) make a one-dollar bet over heredity vs. environment. Curious as to what might happen if different lifestyles were reversed, they arrange for impoverished street hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) to be placed in the lap of luxury and trained for a cushy career in commodities brokerage. Simultaneously, they set about to reduce aristocratic yuppie Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) to poverty and disgrace, hiring prostitute Ophelia (Jamie Lee Curtis) to hasten his downfall. When Billy Ray figures out that the brothers intend to dump him back on the streets once their experiment is complete, he seeks out Winthorpe and together, the pauper-turned-prince and prince-turned-pauper plot an uproarious revenge. With Ophelia and Winthorpe's faithful butler Coleman (Denholm Elliott) as their accomplices, they set about to hit the brothers where it really hurts: in the pocketbook.

The plot has been compared to (and rightfully so) to Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper in which they both follow protagonists of different class who switch places temporarily; Louis Winthorpe (the prince) takes on the life of poverty and misery whilst Billy Ray (the pauper) enjoys the lavish luxuries of a royal life.

Director John Landis direction is  the cinematography is fantastic and captures the cold  environment of
The score by Elmer Bernstein is