These days, Eddie Murphy is often forgotten as one of the most brilliant comedians/actors of this time. Yes, a string of bad moves (uhh, picking up the transvestite hooker) and movies in the 90s basically killed his status at the top and yes, he is madly in love with a Spice Girl (Scary Spice to be exact), but his 80s work on Saturday Night Live and movies like 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop is still admired (and copied) today. Despite the public’s amnesia of how great EM is, the Doc thinks Mr. Axel Foley/Donkey/Akeem/Nutty Professor is ready to do his thing again.
He’s got a pretty big year coming up starting this December. He co-stars in DreamGirls, where he plays a James Brown-like music star of the 1960s. The movie is a big screen production of the Broadway musical of the same name and is receiving early Oscar attention for what critics saw at the Cannes Film Festival. The film, due to hit theaters this Christmas, also stars Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles.
In 2007, he’ll also star in the comedy Norbit. It’s more of the same Eddie: He’ll play a skinny guy, a fat girl, and more hilarious characters with brilliant voices. It won’t be an office blockbuster, but it’s Eddie’s formula for success and is sure to please (see Nutty Professor/Coming To America). He’ll definitely get some good DVD sales out of that one.
Then later in the summer, he’ll reprise his role as the voice of Donkey in “Shrek The Third“. Despite the flood of animated movies lately, it’s hard to argue that the film won’t do well considering that Shrek 2 is still sitting pretty at number three on the all time US box office list. Heck no, I’m not looking forward to hearing Justin Timberlake voice a character in the movie, but seeing Donkey provide some more classic moments is well worth sitting through more whiny voiced Justin.
3 movies and a Spice Girl - enough to wipe the slate clean and start anew? The Doc certainly hopes so.
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