The Big Picture · Discussion · Hall of Fame · Interview

The Eddie Murphy Hall of Fame. Plus: Mads Mikkelsen!

March 5, 2021/ 101 min/ Sean Fennessy · Amanda Dobbins

Sean and Amanda build a ten-film Eddie Murphy Hall of Fame with Van Lathan, then Thomas Vinterberg and Mads Mikkelsen talk through 'Another Round.'

19 films across 4 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Coming 2 America, brieflythe sequel, thirty-plus years later

Coming 2 America 2021

A fine, familiar nostalgia lap that leans on old jokes rather than new ones. Wesley Snipes is the best part; the original is the one worth revisiting.

So close: the final four maybeswhat didn't make the ten

The Golden Child 1986

Van's childhood favorite, even top five for him personally, but the others weren't sold.

Beverly Hills Cop II 1987

Van's own movie-going awakening, but a sequel to a stronger original.

Harlem Nights 1989

Eddie's directorial debut, a thank-you to Pryor and Redd Foxx, more meaningful to Van than to the other two.

Bowfinger 1999

A solid reputation and a favorite scene or two, but no room left.

The Eddie Murphy Hall of Famewith Van Lathan of Higher Learning

48 Hrs. 1982

A 22-year-old Eddie holds his own opposite Nick Nolte in a genuinely violent, adult buddy-cop movie.

Trading Places 1983

The panel's pick for his funniest performance, from before mega-fame, when he barely seems to know how funny he is.

Beverly Hills Cop 1984

The one that made him a movie star; Van knew the theme song before he'd seen the film.

Eddie Murphy Raw 1987

The highest-grossing stand-up film ever made. Dated in spots, but still an all-timer performance.

Coming to America 1988

The unanimous, instant yes. Eddie's said it's still the rare all-Black-cast studio film that's done well everywhere in the world.

Boomerang 1992

Poorly received and, per Amanda, weirdly racist coverage at the time. Now one of his most rewatchable movies, with John Witherspoon stealing scenes.

The Nutty Professor 1996

Shorthand for an entire stretch of his career playing four or five characters in one movie, a trick he's traced back to Peter Sellers.

Shrek 2001

The donkey that opened up a second, animated career and kept the checks coming for two decades.

Dreamgirls 2006

His only Oscar nomination: limited screen time, but 'when he is on, he's perfect.' He lost to Alan Arkin, and the panel still isn't over it.

Dolemite Is My Name 2019

The comeback: a Rudy Ray Moore biopic that led straight back to SNL and an Emmy. Included more for what it means to his career than for the film itself.

In conversation

Thomas Vinterberg and Mads Mikkelsen on

Vinterberg had Mikkelsen in mind before there was even a story. The film wants to be about both the celebration and the damage of drinking. The cast went through a booze boot camp that calibrated exact blood-alcohol levels for each scene, and it closes on Mikkelsen's unscripted-feeling dance, which draws on his years as a professional dancer.