How exciting for me. I had no idea what this film was about, so despite my disappointment that all I got from the Dictator was a new trailer (a funny one, I might add), I was interested in how I would react to this film. After all, I had not seen a trailer, I had no idea who was in it, and I had no idea what it was about. It was one of those rare moments we as movie goers don't get anymore, especially those of us heavily focused on whats coming out next. I was seeing the film with no bias at all (apart from the fact that Eddie Murphy was in it, who unfortunately inspires dread nowadays).
The films premise is a fun one: Eddie Murphy plays literary agent Jack McCall, a fast talking, lying piece of work that will do anything to get what he wants. In an early scene, he dodges a Starbucks coffee line by convincing everyone that his wife was in labor, and having twins (thereby earning him a free cup of joe). But when he grabs the rights to an exclusive book written by a hot new self-help guru, he somehow becomes cursed by a Bodhi tree which springs up in his backyard and sheds leaves at his every word. They determine, somehow, that if the tree loses its leaves, he will die.
This film is by no means completely awful, but its not really all that good either. There are funny moments involving Murphy desperately pantomiming a coffee order or using various speaking toys around his office to close a deal with a publisher. And Clark Duke, as his assistant, adds the funniest bits to the movie (as he often does). The film also somehow manages to star Allison Janney as his boss and Ruby Dee as his mother.
But the film falls apart when the main character realizes that he needs to better himself, and the film gets rather somber in the later half. Few directors can handle a tonal shift like this, and Brian Robbins (whose other credits include Norbit and Meet Dave) is not up to snuff. The film reminded me of Groundhog Day in a way, as Bill Murray transitions from condescending asshole to an all around talented and awesome guy. Yet Groundhog Day somehow handled its dramatic scenes (Murray's multiple suicides) in a way that doesn't feel heavy-handed and schmaltzy.
Kerry Washington is also underserved as Murphy's wife, who just wants to move from his Bachelor Pad atop the Hollywood Hills to a nice home that's child safe (they have a son). Apparently his unwillingness to do this puts a real thorn in her side, and when Murphy stops talking, she takes this as him being mad at her. Of course she decides to maybe make it up to him by putting out, which leads to an incredibly miscalculated scene where she invites Murphy to a hotel room and says, "All I need is for you to talk dirty to me." Well really, movie, of course this scene would exist when he can't talk.
But what really infuriated me about the whole film was that the climax rested on an internal conflict Murphy has with his Dad which is established with no less then one line of dialogue in the first ten minutes of the movie. Yes, his Alzheimer's mother keeps thinking he is his dad, but I took this as more of a bad joke then something that was really hurting the character. This also leads to some very odd sequences where Murphy chases himself as a kid through golden wheat fields.
So maybe the movie is pretty bad. The intentions are good, but the execution is designed to try and ring a tear from your eye in the most manipulative feel good way possible. Clearly if I felt more sympathy for the characters IN the film I might have cared. But as it is, this film is a poorly made mess. There's a reason its been shelved for nearly four years, and the saddest part is it was only now just released to take advantage of Eddie Murphy's recent Oscar hosting stint. Because that happened.
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