Speaker 1: All right, y'all. So now that we've gone there, man,
Speaker 1: now it is time for us to hit the top
Speaker 1: five Eddie Murphy performances, at least between you and I. Right, So,
Speaker 1: from the streets of Beverly Hills to the Kingdom of Zamouonda,
Speaker 1: as we break down the top five performances that define
Speaker 1: Eddie Murphy's incredible career. Now we're gonna take a close
Speaker 1: look at the roles that just weren't performances. They were
Speaker 1: pop culture earthquakes, and we're gonna talk about that. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna eat Off and Charles. I'm gonna go in
Speaker 1: reverse order because I know they have these ranked. I
Speaker 1: didn't rank them in any order. But let's start man
Speaker 1: at number five. And what made the top five to
Speaker 1: me was Donkey, now Charles with nothing but his voice,
Speaker 1: because we never see Eddie Murphy do any of this stuff,
Speaker 1: but in his voice he created one of the most
Speaker 1: beloved animated side kicks of all time. Donkey is funny, loyal,
Speaker 1: and wildly endearing, his comic energy balancing shreks gruffness perfectly.
Speaker 1: Murphy's voice work brought the character to the life so
Speaker 1: with so much charm and humor that it earned him
Speaker 1: a bath denomination and see minute Donkey as the pop
Speaker 1: culture icon in his own right. And oh, by the way, Charles,
Speaker 1: they're doing a Donkey spinoff that Eddie Murphy is starring
Speaker 1: in thirty years later. What do you think about Donkey
Speaker 1: as one of the five definitive Eddie Murphy performances.
Speaker 2: This is the one performance which I mean and for
Speaker 2: consistency's sake, we've talked about him performing inside of Troops before,
Speaker 2: where he's with in trading places with with Dana Ensembles. Uh.
Speaker 2: This is one of the He is not the star
Speaker 2: of Shrek and Donkey is is like you said, he's
Speaker 2: a sidekick. I respect and understand how much of an
Speaker 2: icon the performance is and how people love the move
Speaker 2: that role because it was been in several films, But
Speaker 2: I think I would have put this outside the top
Speaker 2: five as an honorable mention and move and put Marcus
Speaker 2: Graham at the number five spot.
Speaker 1: In you to put Marcus Graham over over his.
Speaker 2: Dolomite, Yes, yes, because and here's the reason why. Because
Speaker 2: Dolomite and and the other character we will be speaking
Speaker 2: about soon are really close performances and that they kind
Speaker 2: of of troll the same genre in the themes, so
Speaker 2: you know, it's kind of the same person a little
Speaker 2: bit to me in that in the in those, but
Speaker 2: the Marcus Graham is completely different, kind of original to
Speaker 2: that performance.
Speaker 1: All Right, I got you man. All Right, Well that's
Speaker 1: interesting and and this is good because we should have
Speaker 1: some conversation around this. But coming in at number four,
Speaker 1: Charles Shermy Clump, Murphy's boldest character experiment turned into one
Speaker 1: of his greatest triumphs as the gentle insecure Professor Shermy Clump,
Speaker 1: which was based on what Jerry Lee Jerry Lewis had
Speaker 1: done years earlier in The Nuttie. Professor Murphy brought warmth
Speaker 1: and vulnerability, then turned around and you know, to your point,
Speaker 1: we already put his family in as audible mentions. But
Speaker 1: this role Man earned him universal praise, massive box office success.
Speaker 1: Eddie Murphy Man showed that that sketch comedy work he
Speaker 1: did years early on SNL, he was able to take
Speaker 1: that translated into multiple films man where he was able
Speaker 1: to make us laugh and didn't make us laugh with
Speaker 1: different perspectives. But we'll concentrate on Sherman Klump and what
Speaker 1: he does in this film, and then it becomes even funnier,
Speaker 1: I think in the sequel when he has to play
Speaker 1: the oversize Sherman Clump, and then I think it's the
Speaker 1: young Buddy Love is all to ego, right right? Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: So thoughts on Sherman Clump Man at number four.
Speaker 2: I like this pick, I really do, because again, Eddie
Speaker 2: Murphy is all over this film, the nuety Professor, Sherman
Speaker 2: Clump and Buddy Love and all his family and he's
Speaker 2: really the heart of this movie. And just to see
Speaker 2: him doing different things, being having to put on those
Speaker 2: pathetics to play Sherman and it was really it was
Speaker 2: really groundbreaking for Eddie Murphy and who he was and
Speaker 2: what kind of the style of comedy he had done
Speaker 2: in the past. He just really stepped out again and
Speaker 2: broke boundaries for himself. And I really I was one
Speaker 2: of the people was like, how is it, Why is
Speaker 2: he going to do that old Jerry Lewis thing? Why
Speaker 2: is he gonna do that? But he really made it
Speaker 2: his own and it was special.
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, man, Now we get into the top three,
Speaker 1: and this gets us back to the conversation about the dramas,
Speaker 1: right and I felt that of all the dramatic roles
Speaker 1: he's had. You talked about Marcus Graham, you talked about
Speaker 1: him playing Rudy Ray Moore. I thought James thunder Early
Speaker 1: and dream Girls was something special for Murphy. Man. To
Speaker 1: your point, Charles, he is a member of an ensemble,
Speaker 1: but this is a performance that blended soul, legend, charisma
Speaker 1: and personal tragedy. Murphy delivers one the most dramatic terms
Speaker 1: of his career as the explosive, heartbroken James thunder Early.
Speaker 1: Murphy brought the house down with his vocals and vulnerability.
Speaker 1: The role won him a Golden Globe, earned him an
Speaker 1: Oscar nomination, should have earned him an Oscar win. For
Speaker 1: the reason we talked about earlier. Proven see I won't
Speaker 1: gonna say it once all that he could bring just
Speaker 1: as much weight to a tragic downfall as a punchline.
Speaker 1: Now this is just me and I'll let you speak
Speaker 1: in a second. I loved this performance and dream Girls.
Speaker 1: I thought that with Jamie Fox and Jennifer Hudson, who
Speaker 1: wins the Oscar and the soundtrack and the screenplay and
Speaker 1: the production design, everything that works, Murphy stands alone to me,
Speaker 1: Despite the fact that he didn't win. He's the tragic
Speaker 1: heart and soul, the tragic figure out of him and Fie.
Speaker 1: Fie is really the true dramatic figure. But if there's
Speaker 1: a dramatic figure A or B, he's got to be
Speaker 1: B next to Fie and the way he plays it,
Speaker 1: it's just heartbreaking.
Speaker 2: The watch fan. We joke about Norbit a lot about
Speaker 2: how it was responsible for but there's really no there's
Speaker 2: really no explanation as to why they really didn't give
Speaker 2: him the award that year for the Oscar that year,
Speaker 2: because despite whatever anything else he does, this was his
Speaker 2: and I was close to making this his number one
Speaker 2: performance because of the recognition that he received just globally
Speaker 2: for what he did in this film. Like you mentioned,
Speaker 2: he won the Golden Globe, he was nominated, he really
Speaker 2: should have won, and a lot of people this was
Speaker 2: almost before Chadwick Boseman was shocked, was shocked, you know,
Speaker 2: when he didn't get that award. So and people want
Speaker 2: to use Norbit as the explanation, but there really is
Speaker 2: no really good explanation as to why he didn't win
Speaker 2: for that, for that Oscar.
Speaker 1: I'm still I'm still burnt up about him not winning
Speaker 1: and which gets me to number two. And Charles, we
Speaker 1: talked about this film earlier, Coming to America, his Prince IQM.
Speaker 1: In what many consider his sweetest and most universally adored role,
Speaker 1: Murphy became Prince I Kim of Zamunda thirty years before
Speaker 1: Black Panther hit the screen, a noble royal in search
Speaker 1: of love, navigating Queens, New York with wide ey wonder
Speaker 1: and humility now beyond his heart. Murphy's tored the force
Speaker 1: of multiple characters, which we already talked about. Trans showed
Speaker 1: his range, transforming Coming to America into a cultural cornerstone
Speaker 1: that remains as quotable and loved decades later. And Charles,
Speaker 1: before I throw it to you as a point, I
Speaker 1: remember almost twenty years ago, one day we were at beet.
Speaker 1: I was working at bet dot com, and the whole
Speaker 1: office set around for at least half hour to forty
Speaker 1: five minutes with everybody throwing out their favorite lines from
Speaker 1: Coming to America.
Speaker 2: And you probably went thirty minutes before somebody repeated the line,
Speaker 2: because there was there that many lines in that film. Look,
Speaker 2: I still use that one every now and then I'll
Speaker 2: be like good.
Speaker 1: He all right, good and terrible. I loved this film. Man.
Speaker 1: What do you have to say about Coming to America? Man?
Speaker 2: You know, I can't complain. I believe that that film
Speaker 2: is one of the top black movies ever made. Coming
Speaker 2: to America. I mean people have I mean you just
Speaker 2: said it. Before there was Black Panther, there were there
Speaker 2: was Prince Akim, and people looked up to Prince Akim
Speaker 2: and respected that role in all of his fallacies and foibles,
Speaker 2: but he was fantastic and he was an inspiration. Love
Speaker 2: and loved Ruthy Carter's work.
Speaker 1: Costume, yeah, Ruthy, Yeah, the costumes and Coming to America.
Speaker 1: The only one every time I think about this movie
Speaker 1: that really stands out is when James Earl Jones came
Speaker 1: to New York and they were at the Waldorfer Story
Speaker 1: and he jumped out of that that limousine with that
Speaker 1: lion's head, was like, look, we're not worthy. Ruthie Carter
Speaker 1: is a She's a beast, man. I mean, and I
Speaker 1: say that with all the love and respect. I loved
Speaker 1: me from Ruthie Carter. All right, man, So let's get
Speaker 1: the number one man, and number one this one, this movie.
Speaker 1: When you talk about him becoming a phenomenon ac so
Speaker 1: Foley in Beverly Hills Cop. Charles. The easiest way to
Speaker 1: really think about this just being I think his third movie,
Speaker 1: because he had done forty eight hours trading places and
Speaker 1: then he exploded in Beverly Hills Cop. This movie, made
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty four, made three hundred and sixteen million
Speaker 1: dollars worldwide. If we adjust that for today's dollars, imagine
Speaker 1: an actor who came out of a show like SNL
Speaker 1: Sketch Comedy, he had two smaller films. In his third
Speaker 1: film made seven hundred and thirty three million dollars, he
Speaker 1: would be celebrated the way Eddie Murphy was celebrated forty
Speaker 1: years ago. Huge. It just changed everything for Murphy. It
Speaker 1: changed everything for black characters because people were like, Wow,
Speaker 1: who is this kid? What was he like wanted twenty
Speaker 1: two when it.
Speaker 2: Was I think it was twenty two when he did this,
Speaker 2: when he did this film, and you know he had
Speaker 2: cut he had cut his teeth in SNL. He developing
Speaker 2: characters being I mean, I'm surprised. You know a lot
Speaker 2: of people will say, well, what about delirious and raw
Speaker 2: and all those other things, But those aren't acting performances,
Speaker 2: but I mean Delirious and Raw were also instrumental in
Speaker 2: in this performance. So, I mean when we got Beverly
Speaker 2: Hills Cop, we were like, we've never seen this before
Speaker 2: where a black man is just hilarious, he's got charmed,
Speaker 2: he's he's super smart and he's solving crimes. Yeah, this
Speaker 2: was this was the film to watch. It was. It
Speaker 2: was like you said, it was a moment when this
Speaker 2: film came out. Everybody was like, I want to be
Speaker 2: like alex axl Foley. The music was everywhere, people were
Speaker 2: dressing like him. It was. It was crazy.
Speaker 1: And the other part that I don't think we talk
Speaker 1: about enough, And Eddie Murphy had said, the quiet power,
Speaker 1: the quiet part out loud. He created. He's a part
Speaker 1: of the creation of the action buddy comedy genre that
Speaker 1: we have when he did forty eight Dollars with Nick Nolty.
Speaker 1: Of course later on with Beverly Hills Cop. Like that
Speaker 1: gyre didn't exist, Like we had action films and we
Speaker 1: had buddy comedies, but they weren't buddy action films. Eddie Murphy.
Speaker 1: In our generation, we were the first to see this
Speaker 1: with now we see it all the time, like now,
Speaker 1: which Schwartz nigger, I'll be back. You know, like everybody
Speaker 1: took that formula, Bruce Willis, all of those guys took
Speaker 1: that formula and ran with it. Eddie Murphy truly a trailblazer,
Speaker 1: which is why I'm glad that we were able to
Speaker 1: give Eddie his flowers. Man uh, And we'll give him
Speaker 1: more flowers because we'll talk about his movie and a
Speaker 1: little bit. Man. But any closing thoughts man on the
Speaker 1: top five, and we'll go through that top five one
Speaker 1: more time. Coming in at number five, of course, was
Speaker 1: Donkey from Shrek. Number four was Sherman Klump from The
Speaker 1: Nutty Professor. James thunder Early from Dreamgirls comes in at
Speaker 1: number three, Prince I Keen coming to America coming into
Speaker 1: number two, and from Beverly Hills Cop Act, so Foley
Speaker 1: at the top spot. So yeah, go ahead, Charles. Any
Speaker 1: last thoughts man before we move on and review.
Speaker 2: Well, like I said before, I don't think Donkey would
Speaker 2: have made my top five, but I recognize how it
Speaker 2: brought a new generation to Eddie Murphy then had been before.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I respect it all.
Speaker 1: Right, man. Well, you know, so to read this this list.
Speaker 1: You can go over to the film Gordon dot com.
Speaker 1: The list is there. And again, let us know how
Speaker 1: you feel, man, because sometimes we in the vacuum and
Speaker 1: we doing stuff. Give us some comments, man, Let us
Speaker 1: know if you agree with the list, if you like
Speaker 1: Charles Kirkling. Man, I don't know why you put that
Speaker 1: donkey in there. I would have put Marcus Graham in there. Respect,
Speaker 1: I got you, all right,