Murphy Movies

Peter Rainer’s commentary on Eddie Murphy was much needed, but hardly goes far enough.

Was no one at Murphy’s management company or at Paramount Pictures able to see that the scripts for “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “The Golden Child,” “Coming to America” and now “Harlem Nights” were terrible before they handed over the millions of dollars it took to make each film? Is everyone so afraid of Murphy that they knowingly let him foist bad movie after bad movie upon an adoring public that deserves better treatment from a man they worship? Or does he simply refuse to listen and learn or let anyone with the talent and craft of screenwriting fix the scripts before they’re shot?

Eddie, the emperor has no clothes. Buy a wardrobe.

BOB SHAYNE

Malibu