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Actors: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Della Reese, Arsenio Hall
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Harlem Nights |
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"Sugar" Ray (Pryor) owns an illegal nightclub/casino in 1938 Harlem. His adopted son Vernest Brown, known to everyone as "Quick" (Murphy) serves as heir apparent and enforcer. The operation runs up against a vicious gangster named Bugsy Calhoune (Lerner) working in tandem with corrupt police Sgt. Phil Cantone (Aiello), both of whom would like to see the club put out of business. Ray and Quick turns the tables on their rivals with a complex gambling sting. Despite some serious work by dependable Aiello and Lerner, and a surprisingly amusing fistfight between Murphy and cathouse madame Vera (Reese), this 1989 film is clearly writer/director/star Murphy's vanity project: frequently lame, and embarrassingly bad -- especially Arsenio Hall's excruciating cameo as a screeching crying man.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Harlem Nights |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
Crime & Scandal
Yes
Story of
- criminals stealing from honest people
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- Black
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- criminal
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) average
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) fat
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Jewish
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
- dangerous
Misc setting
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- frustrated
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- sex under blankets
Any profanity?
- A huge amnt of foul language
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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