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Coming to America

Coming to America

Comedy · Romance · 1988

An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

Movie details

Coming to America

“This summer, Prince Akeem discovers America.”

1988 Comedy · Romance 1h 57m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Coming to America?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Landis

Written by

David Sheffield · Barry W. Blaustein · Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy

Prince Akeem / Clarence / Randy Watson / Saul

Arsenio Hall

Arsenio Hall

Semmi / Extremely Ugly Girl / Morris / Reverend Brown

Shari Headley

Shari Headley

Lisa McDowell

John Amos

John Amos

Cleo McDowell

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

King Jaffe Joffer

Madge Sinclair

Madge Sinclair

Queen Aoleon

Eriq La Salle

Eriq La Salle

Darryl Jenks

Court is in session

Put Coming to America on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.