Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.
Coming to America is elevated almost entirely by Eddie Murphy's charismatic, multi-role performance and the sharp ensemble comedy from the likes of Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, and John Amos. Murphy's range playing multiple distinct characters is genuinely impressive. The plot itself is a fairly predictable fish-out-of-water romantic comedy with a by-the-numbers arc — prince meets girl, loses girl, wins her back — that holds few surprises. The cinematography is functional at best, standard late-80s studio work with nothing visually distinctive. The film's novelty lies in its affectionate satirical take on African royalty and its celebration of Black culture and community in Queens, which gave it a distinctive voice for its era, though it doesn't reinvent the rom-com wheel. The ending is warm but thoroughly telegraphed, offering little beyond the expected fairy-tale resolution.