Murphy's whole career behind a camera...

Written, directed, produced and fronted by Murphy. Also starring his brother and Pryor, his long-time inspiration, girlfriend Guy and friend Hall.
It doesn't get much more personnal than that.

Well, that's not all he wrote, but that's all he directed. Kept on producing, though, cause he's astute and likes making money.

And it didn't deter him from trying to grow out of the outrageous funny man image.

Which he was not completely ready to. There's still much of Axel F in his character.

If memory serves, Pryor had been diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. So, not at his best. But still very good. Foxx, Aiello, Lerner and most of the supporting cast are old grognards by the time of this movie. Pro-level performances all around.

Photography is decent for the time, so, nothing impressive, despite competent lighting and nice colour palettes. The camera work is adequate, but hardly impressive. Not every actor is Eastwood. Or Beaty, in this context.


Not only is it not woke - Murphy's always shown a 80s view on race - but it's not even PC: there are even fights involving women. Which end up as realistically expected.


This movie hesitates between film noir and Murphy comedy, and never finds a balance. Beaty's Dick Tracy the following year puts it to shame, with its assumed comic book looks all the way.
The Godfather it is not; still, it somewhat works, and makes for a pleasant watch.
I suppose it was under-rated at the time, considering Murphy was on top of the world, high expectations included.