Was anybody happy for the two homeless bums when Akeem gave them wads of money? I sure was and thought that was one of the best moments in the movie, I know it's a reference from an earlier Eddie Murphy/John Landis movie Trading Places
shareit was a cute movie reference
Enrique Sanchez
I liked it even though in "Trading Places" the Dukes were mean rich men. Very nice reference. I didn't notice it as a kid until my parents pointed out to me what Ralph Bellamy meant by "We're Back."
My job is to inform, not persuade- Dan Rather
My first thought was, "How the hell did they get from Philly all the way over to Queens since they were broke?" Ok, I get it, they were at the NY Stock Exchange when the hammer fell on them, but still.
Not happy at all, considering they were broke and living on the street for years and all of a sudden someone drops a wad of money in their hands and like a crack addict, the first thing they want to do is make a score.
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Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.
Yeah I thought it was brilliant.
If I were rich I'd do that too
Was anybody happy for the two homeless bums?It was cute during the years before I saw Trading Places and realized what douches they were. Now it's just a clever reference.
It was absolutely HILARIOUS how Eddie paid homage to one of the first movies he worked on and referenced said movie.....
shareNot to nitpick, but would the former multi-millionaire Dukes say "We're back" for a few thousand (at most) dollars Akeem put in the paper bag (it was far from full). What could they do with, say $4,000? Buy new suits and get a job? Buy a few stocks of McDowell's stock? Or just blow it on cheap whiskey and a week with a hooker?
shareSnow
watch the film again.....especially when Semi goes to the Wire service and asks King Joffee to send them money.
"Please send X amount of money as we are in dire straits".....and note that the agent thinking it's a joke...suggests that he asks for more money..which he does
When Semi says to Akeem "please do not take my pocket money!" it assumed that it's a LOT of money..way more than 4 grand.
I don't think the king ever sent the money. When Semmi asks "What are you doing here [New York]?" the king says he came because Semmi's telegram said they were in trouble. So he made a surprise visit instead of sending the money.
Whether he sent the money or not, a million would not fit in a small lunch bag. I've held $5,000 bundles before, and at most there are 3 or 4 such bundles in there ($5,000 x 4 = $20,000, max). So possibly my $4,000 estimate was a bit low. But $20,000 isn't enough to turn homeless bums back into instant millionaires.
And I thought (could be wrong) the money Akeem confiscated and put in the bag was Semmi's original spending money (a few thousand, perhaps). Semmi then sent the telegram asking for a million, while Akeem was already on his walk and gave the thousands to the homeless guys.
@Snow
the point is , if Semi was going to ask the King for 200 K, than half a mill, and then a full million...the implication is that he and Akeem went on their trip with at least the original 200 k that he was going to ask to have wired.
the louis vuitton luggage they travel with was worth tens of thousands of dollars
Remember, Semi flashes a KNOT of money to the landlord of the boarding house/apartment building they are staying in to get him to let them inside the building.....he pays for the apartment and then he gets all the high end furniture inside the place..his pocket change could be tens of thousands of dollars.
And the Duke brothers..with 10 to 70 thousand dollars seed money....would go right back to trading
Also, Semmi redid the apartment with money that WAS sent and Akeem took the rest of his money so he "couldn't cause anymore trouble." They switched apartments with the landlord so Lisa wouldn't see them living high. Lisa's sister (when she visited) and the landlord (when they called him up to change apartments) both questioned how they got the stuff. Clarice asked what they were involved in since she knew they couldn't afford it on their salaries and the landlord asked if the stuff was hot.
shareNo, I wasn't happy. Mainly because it undermined the ending of Trading Places.
share[deleted]
One of the few who didn't like the two bums being the Duke Brothers themselves. I always liked the idea of Ameche and Bellamy having cameos playing the polar opposite of the Duke Brothers and the actual Duke Brothers which itself makes zero sense.
shareBUMP
shareYeah it was funny
shareI just watched Coming to America for the first time since I was a kid and that was one of the best bits.
I’m looking forward to the sequel.