The Rewatchables - ‘Boomerang’ With Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, and Wesley Morris

Episode Date: May 26, 2020

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and Van Lathan are joined by the New York Times’ Wesley Morris to give you their mack-daddy vibe in all its splendor after rewatching the 1992 comedy ‘Boomerang’ starring Eddie Murphy, Robin Givens, Halle Berry, and David Alan Grier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And that's it. That's all we got going. You know what the bad thing about having a hardest, Marcus? It's that it could get broken by people like you. The rewatchables. Boomerang coming up next. I have missed the romance when I meet a woman And then once I hit it

I lose interest but that ain't my fault Where you go I have to give a speech in the morning To the board of directors But thank you You were great She loves this like a God Marcus I was so tense

When I got off the plane But You really relaxed me Call me First the fat boys breakup Now it's Van Lathan is here Wesley Morris is here

are my old Grantland teammate now at the New York Times. This is a very important movie for me. I know I say that a lot in the rewatchables, but this is a really important movie for me. Eddie Murphy was my guy. He was coming off Harlem nights in 1989, which was critically savaged. And then 48 hours two in 1990, the much anticipated sequel to one of my favorite movies of all time. And he's 15 pounds overweight and kind of doing a Reggie Hammond impersonation. And it's just a bummer. And this was like, like, Eddie, come on, get your shit together. Two years pass, boomerang comes out.

I didn't realize until I did the research for this movie. I always thought it was a beloved movie. It was not beloved when it came out. Wesley, what do you remember about the reviews to a movie that, by the way, did really well and made like 70 million bucks and should have been reviewed better?

The reviews, I think, kind of weren't ready for the kind of comedy this is. I think people were expecting it to be like a Nora Ephron movie, but black. And instead, they just got a black movie. And I think, you know, there were, what black people were reviewing this movie in 1992, for one thing. None. How about zero?

I don't know what Jet said, but I'm sure that, like, they were all, I'm sure Eddie Murphy or Robin Givens or somebody or Halliberry was on the cover of Jet. So, but I remember not critically, but I mean, Van, I don't know if you remember this, but like there was enormous pressure. It was like this was the early 90s when every, it happened like four times a year, a black movie would open

and your entire family, all your friends, you all have to go to the movie and, you know, prove that you saw it. You couldn't be more right. Like, I was watching BET's video soul. Oh, video soul, please. Video soul. And I think it was Martin Lawrence that was sitting down

because this movie is also a very important milestone in the career of Martin Lawrence. Like Martin Lawrence was sitting down, he was talking to Sherry, and he said that he was in a movie, and the movie was starring him, David Allen Greer, and Eddie Murphy. And my mother went, huh? What is that coming out? And I was like, like, it was all of them in one movie.

And I was like, oh, for real. So like, I remember this is back before the age of knowing exactly what release date for every movie was coming out in 2024, 22, and all of that stuff like that. And there was a great degree of anticipation for the movie with all of these people in it. So it was definitely a cultural event at Bar Marshay Mall in Baton Rouge. to go and watch this movie at the show. It was a huge, huge deal, and we loved it. Maybe at 11 or 12 at the point, maybe I shouldn't have been watching it,

but we went to the movies and I did. So the director, Reginald Hudlin, he actually says on the set in one of the stories that someday people are going to be amazed that all of these people were in the same movie. We're talking 28 years later, and I've seen this, I'm not kidding, when I've seen this movie 30 times.

This is one of my movies. I'll watch this every year. It gets more unbelievable by the year how many people are in this movie. Like in bit parts. Like Chris Rock's barely in the movie and it's fucking Chris Rock. He's like the 10th lead in this.

But then you think you talked about how Martin Lawrence, how what an important movie it was for him. It's weirdly an important movie for every single person in the movie. Like we'll do Apex Mountain later and we're like, what's the apex of somebody?

This movie, everybody who's in it has some sort of stake. You know, like it launches Hallie Berry. Hallibary becomes Hallie Barry from this movie. It's the last good thing Robin Givens does. It's the best movie David Allen Greer ever made. It's a movie that launches Martin Lawrence's TV career and his movie career. It revives Eddie Murphy as this guy who was like this LeBron-like talent that we were

disappointed in who now circles back. And it's like, oh yeah, that's LeBron putting up 35. 12, and 15 in a game. What am I missing, Wesley? Um, I mean, this, I mean, there are the sort of ancillary things where it's a, it's a big moment for black people. It's a big moment for black people who want to be in movies and who want to see black people in movies.

And I think that the pressure, it's weird that this movie doesn't feel like there's any pressure on it when you watch it. Um, but the pressure. on the movie to not just be good, but just to make money to satisfy whoever gave them the money to make the movie in the first place.

That pressure was enormous. And it's funny watching it now with no pressure on it at all, how just, I mean, this might be one of the problems with the movie.

We can talk about this later, but like, it is, it is so carefree and it is, it is so only interested in being the thing that these people who are making this, like Tisha Campbell,

like Tisha, well, whatever. We can go back to Tisha Campbell, but like the way that she functions in this movie is so, it's just such a black movie. It's so black. And I was surprised by, that was the thing I could only appreciate

at this remove, but as a kid it was just like, oh, well, this is just like being in the cafeteria at school. So we're talking a six-year stretch that leads to this movie where you have the birth of Spike Lee's career, you have house party, you have Hollywood Shuffle, you have Raw directed by Robert Townsend,

you have Boys in the Hood. It's a six-year arc to a mainstream Eddie Murphy movie that's trying to basically rejuvenate his career in a little bit of a way, but also is an all-black movie. And this is the first mainstream all-black movie ever. In the research, it's the most expensive black movie ever to this point. It's like 40 million.

Most of the movies that were either all-black, mostly black, whatever, were always smaller budgets, things like that. This one, they go all in. Van, you're not going to believe this, but there was a backlash to this in 1992. I know you're always shocked. I know you're always shocked when maybe, white America received something incorrectly,

but in 1992, people were upset and didn't understand and felt like it was racist that there was it all black cast. Yeah. I mean, that also has to do with their relationship with Eddie Murphy, right? Because, you know, Eddie Murphy was seen,

it's very funny, there's a scene in Do the Right Thing, where it's a very famous scene in Do the Right Thing, where John Tuturo is talking to Spike Lee, And he actually mentions Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson as being more than black, right? These guys are more than black. Those guys aren't really black. They're not black.

They're more than, so there's something different than black. And that's kind of a view that Eddie Murphy had in the 80s. Eddie Murphy was from Saturday Night Live. Eddie Murphy didn't exist to a lot of people in any specific sphere of blackness. even though he had done movies that dealt in themes of black like Harlem Knights is definitely a black movie

I would even say that coming to America is definitely a black movie in a celebration of not just blackness in America but of blackness going all the way back to Africa but when you watch this film which I describe, I describe Boomerang as delightful. It's a delightful movie. That's the way I describe it.

When you watch this movie like when I rewatched it for this for the purposes of this podcast, I automatically was overjoyed. The first scene of the movie is this professional, beautiful setting of these amazing looking black people, right? And I'm not talking to any Kylie Jenner, glamazon, Instagram. I'm talking about natural, beautiful, expressive,

and successful black. people who, by the way, aren't harping on their place in America. They just doing their thing. And the movie is almost like, you had earth a kitten at. You got black royalty in this movie. You got the full gamut generations of excellence telling a love story, right? And so I kind of dig that, but I do understand how people might look at Eddie functioning inside of that movie and being like, yo, it's a lot.

ain't Reggie from trading places. Where do we fit in? Like where to like what's our part? How do we access this film? Like how do we get into this film? I could see how they would feel that way. But I think, you know, when you have Eddie and Hudlin and Chris Rock all up and down the line,

really, for me, this movie, you talk about people at launch, it launched Lila Rashon. You know, she had come through with Harlem Knights, but this was the kind of the thing that kind of put her next. So it's like almost like a love story to black professional life. And I love it for that.

Well, you think, so you talked about Eddie belonging to everybody. We're just, we just, we're taping this the same weight that the last dance just ended. And I do think there were Eddie Murphy,

Michael Jordan parallels in a lot of ways. And I think Michael Jackson was like this too, although he was, he hit a whole other level of fame. But, um, these people that, for whatever reason,

just crossed over. And I think Michael was, in a lot of the same boat, right? Like, Michael couldn't have been in whatever his version of boomerang was because people would have been like, what the fuck's going on? Wait a second. Yeah, I thought you were more mainstream than this. And I do feel like this is one of the fascinating things about this movie.

It completely changes all the choices Eddie Murphy makes from this point on. I think he really put a lot of thought, time, and energy into this choice that this is a new pitch in my pictures arsenal. I'm now going to break out my slider. I'm going to be in a rom-com. You're going to watch me have sex with people. I'm going to be the old funny Eddie, but I'm also going to be romantic.

I'm going to tap into all these. This is me. I'm hitting every piece of the Eddie, Eddie Pie. And then people are like, fuck this. This movie is too black. This movie's racist. And Eddie writes an op-ed piece in the LA Times. Did you know this?

I forgot the same to you last night. He writes an op-ed piece. He's so upset about the criticism of this movie that he, so he dismisses the reviewers who the reviewers are like, what is this world of upper middle class black professional life? This doesn't exist. How is this in a movie? Such an overtly racist, despicable. It's in there.

It's in the past. Right. And talks about, Reginald and Hudlin talked about there was a studio exec when they pitched this movie. who he quotes as saying, I don't know how you're going to make this work. Eddie Murphy is in a romantic comedy. He's got that broad nose and big lips. Like, this is where we were in the early 90s.

This movie basically gets rejected, even though it makes $70 million and is one of the top 20 successful movies of the year. Wesley, does this completely change the arc of Eddie's career? If this movie's received better, do we tap into a different version of him as an actor instead of going down this, you know, the nuttyest professor route

that we ended up in? I wonder, but you know, I think it, well, no, because I think he leaned into not being, I think he wanted to make everything he made as black as he could possibly make it after this movie. I mean, I can't think, I mean, there's probably some exception I'm not remembering right now, but if you think about Vampire and Brooklyn, which I think was after this, not a great movie, but like... It was after.

Distinguished gentlemen and Vampire and Brooklyn were the next two. Distinguished Gentleman was a hit, but not... Not a great movie. Not a great movie. But, like, if you think about where he wound up at the end of the decade with life and the nutty professor, and... I mean, Dreamgirls wasn't the end of the decade. That was the 2000. It's the next decade.

Dr. Doolittle was in there, but Metro was in there. Yeah, Metro. Metro was in there. Dr. Doolittle were in there. So there were definitely a couple of... Metro was all right. There were definitely a couple of four quadrant family films that he's stuck in there to make sure that things were going well.

But nothing like this performance. And I almost feel the same way as I do about Wesley's going to laugh, but Will Smith in Focus. Where it's just like, why aren't you this guy more often in a movie? Yeah. Yeah. What's wrong with this persona? And this is really the only time Eddie went for it in a movie. And he's excellent.

This is when he access his sexy. This is the first time that we saw. Because I remember when I saw the movie, I never thought about Eddie Murphy like that. Like, you know, like when I thought about the sexy black guys, remember this was the era of Denzel and Mobetta Blues to where like you would, like,

my mom would watch Moabed of Blues and Dinsale would be messing around with the trumpet. And my mother would like audibly moaned. And my father would be like, okay, I'm going to cut this shit off. Yeah. If you can't control yourself. So there were a lot of this time, kind of those guys.

And you never thought about Eddie Murphy in that realm. But when you look at him in the movie, especially watching it now, yo, he was smooth as hell. It completely worked. And like, it was just something we had never seen from him. The only time I can think of it is 48 hours when he's trying to hook up with the girl at the club, when he's waiting for Nick Nolte to show up. And he starts hitting on her.

And he's trying. And that's like really, they try to do it in Golden Child, but it's super awkward. They end up cutting it out. And it's probably the biggest flaw in that movie. And then coming to America is basically like a Disney movie. But Bill, you're omitting the most important romantic connection he had. You're going to do this now? All right, go ahead.

I mean, it's important. I feel like him and James Rousseau at the beginning of Beverly Hills cop, as we've discussed in a previous episode of this. program does not work if they don't have this connection. And he and James Rousseau lean into this connection in Beverly Hills Cop. And it's the animating, it's the animus of the entire movie. And it doesn't work if you don't believe that he has, that a loss has happened to him. So he, so you think when he's with Hallie Barry and Robin Givens in this movie, he's really thinking of James Rousseau? No, because the kissing, this is some of the best kissing I've ever seen in a movie. This is

I've never seen, I have never seen a man and a woman kiss in a movie that was put out by a Hollywood studio, like the kissing that happens. And he is, they are eating each other's faces. It's just amazing. I've never seen kissing like this before. And I'm a big toothbrushing, running, and kissing are my three tells as to whether or not these people have done this before in a movie. And the kissing in this movie is just out of control.

It pissed my grandmother off so bad. And she was like, yo, she was like, that's real tongue he put on her. Like, you know what I mean? And it's like, it's not just the kissing. It's like when Robin Givens and Eddie Murphy are having sex, the sex scenes in this movie, she is going to work. Yes, yes. Like, she is going to work.

Like, and that's kind of a thing about this film is like for as breezy as it is, because it's a breezy or love story, you know, you know what I mean? It's a, it's, it doesn't go to the depths of it's not, you know, Blue Valentine or anything like, you know what I mean? It's a breezier love story, but they really don't pull any punches in terms of what it is that they show you or how aggressive they are about even some of the dialogue or some of the situations. Like, you know, Marcus Graham at the beginning of the movie is pretty like an unabashed

scumbat. Like he says at the beginning of the movie. at the moment of orgasm, he loses interest in the one, who says that? You know what I mean? And so because... I'm not going to lie. I mean, it is a chemical, it is a chemical reaction. I'm sorry.

It happens to every man. I don't know. I mean, that was a teenager and could not have known how true this was. I'm watching this movie now and I'm like, oh, that's just stuff that men talk about. That is a three-man conversation And it is just a matter of fact It is not misogyny It's just it's it's it's chemistry

It's chemistry that's just what happened Well this movie really pulls off It pulls off two different movies right And it's a recipe we've seen over and over again Where it's like this guy's unlikable But by the end of the movie you're going to like them Basic premise right But in this it's like boy this guy's

This guy really really uses women and discards him immediately, but he's Eddie Murphy's so I'm supposed to like him. But then when things flip on him, it really works. I think the last 45, 50 minutes of this movie when it really turns into a traditional rom-com

and his whole world's been fucked up and then he kind of ends up with Hallie Berry and then he fucks that up and he's just a drift. It's about as successful of a swerve as you've seen in a rom-com. It's, you know, and by the way, this is in almost every rom-com, right?

When Harry Met Sally has its version of it. And you go on through and it's at some point, 75% in the movies, somebody's going to fuck things up and then they'll fix it at the end. This one, you're like really rooting for him to fix it with Hallie Berry, partly because she's, you know, the best-looking person probably who's ever been on a movie screener in the top five. You're like, Eddie, don't screw this up. Jesus.

How did you miss it? Van, where would you run? rank this cast and then Wesley I'm getting your take too the best looking cast of females ever in a movie. Number one. It's a one seat in the tournament. It's number one

I mean there are other movies outside of the like I mean, you know, Sin City's up there, you know, with Jessica Alba and Carla Gino and all of those people like that. Like there's a lot of beautiful women in Sin City and there are a lot of other movies that have. She's the one. She's the one is the one that I think

is also a one seat. in the tournament. She's the one you said. Prime Aniston. It's got Cameron Diaz. It's got Leslie Mann and Maxine Banks and there's like three other people in it. Is Connie Britton in that? Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. It's loaded. So that's a one seed too. I don't know what the tournament is and I know we'll never have it at the ringer because, God forbid, you have fun of this stuff. But boomerangs on the short list. Without a doubt.

And like I said, women of all generations. Like, you know, Earth of Kit still brings it. Yeah, Grace Jones. Grace Jones does it for me, too. Man, strong as a day. I mean, like, Grace Jones. She's amazing in this. I mean.

So, you got something? It seems like you were. No, I just, I'm just, I'm just basking in the, in the afterbirth, in the after a buff of Grace Jones. It's great. Grace Jones will be coming up later in a couple, in a couple of the categories. I'm sure she will be. Wesley, where,

What are your one seeds in the best looking female cast ever tournament? This is definitely up there. Shampoo. Oh, that's a great one. Totally shampoo. I feel like Sin City is complicated, right? Because it has to be, it can't be about casting people who for their beauty, right? I mean, I don't know.

It's got me, I'm going to... Hey, what we're talking about? Cincinnati's got Rosario, just the names, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Albaugh, Callagino, Jamie King, like Sin City is... I'm not saying it's not true. I'm not saying the women in that movie aren't beautiful. What I'm saying is they're the way that the movie, I don't know, it kind of matters how the movie uses them.

I don't know. Okay. I feel like Sin City gets an asterisk, to me. But that is fair because they're... Yes, that it's all true. But what else, like, number one C, this is definitely a one C. Can I give you a LeBron 2007 Cavaliers one seat? It's just basic instinct.

It's just Sharon Stone and Roxy. They don't have anyone else, but it's just maybe some Gene Triplehorn getting some rebounds and some picks. No love for Janine Triplehorn? Yeah, yeah. All right. As a six, man? That's a sleeper. Because Sharon Stone's worth like three people in that movie.

Yeah. No, basic instinct's a good one. Can we talk about Robin Givens? Oh. Wesley. I wasn't Robin Givens a bigger movie star. Is it was where was there just the Tyson thing was just too much, the difficult thing was too much for her to overcome because she,

every time I watch this movie, I just feel like she's one of those actresses, much like Sharon Stone where she just walks in the room and just goes like this. And you're just, you're leaving with her and you don't even know where you're going. Yeah. So where are we going? Okay.

All right. I'll just follow you. Wait, your family's behind that. Fine, fine, fine. I'm just going to go with Rob. Robin Givens is, I mean, I won't, she's not a tragedy. I think the thing that happened to her is really sad, though. And it is essentially that, I mean, you guys can talk about where you fall on the Robin Givens culpability in the Mike Tyson relationship.

but I think that the public reaction against her, this idea that she was a scheming, gold digging, conniving, she and her mother were these awful, evil people who were after Mike Tyson's money. It just was too much. And I think that a thing that happens, and this is why boomerang is such a, like, it's like I might get a little emotional

even thinking about this movie this way, but there's a thing that happens with Black Art. that can, and in black culture, in black people, whatever we mean by a black community, where if you fuck up or you're perceived by America writ large as having fucked up, black people will take you in, we'll take you back, we'll give you a second chance. We will rehab you. and I mean, you know, O.J. Simpson is like Nerplu's Ultra the example of this

where, you know, we made a choice not so much about OJ, but about what he represented or what he was made to represent by that trial. You know, Michael Jackson is such a person. Janet Jackson, after the nipplegate fiasco. You're just speaking. Van's language right now. He's all in. He can't wait. Where did Janet go? Janet went to make Tyler Perry movies. I think there was a real Robin Givens was somebody who, as by being part of this experience, I think, I mean, I know as like a teenage boy, I was just like, oh, well, I mean, I already liked Robin Gibbons, but now I love her because she came home to us. She came back. She didn't have to come. She didn't have to be here.

And I mean, she probably needed to do that as much as like we were happy to have her do it. But I think being in this movie, it kind of, it lessened the stigma against her. If not in the rest of the country, then certainly among black people. But she also played the villain. You know what I mean? She was Eddie Murphy's equal. But she also, if this movie has a quote, bad guy, unquote, it happens to be the woman who is the most free with her sexuality,

the most sort of unencumbered by being successful, being black, and being beautiful. There is no obstacle for her progress in this corporate environment. And what she's acting in this movie is just liberation. Now, the downside, of course, is the hair, because a lot of women left that movie being like, fuck that hair. God damn that hair.

But I don't know. I feel like Robin Givens deserved more than she got. I think the movie she did Rage in Harlem before this. And I think, I mean, I don't, what did? She didn't do anything after this. She wasn't in another movie. I mean, she was probably in, she didn't do anything near this level of, of, of, profile.

You just gave Van a bone with like three different pieces of giant meat on it that he doesn't know what to do with. Van, I don't even know where you go from that. Well, there's a couple of things. Number one, like, Eurasian Harlem is the movie that awoken young van to the wonders and beauties of, like, Robin Givens is hot in this movie. In Eurasian Harlem, Robin Givens is some sort of sexual. deity, she is so fine

in that movie. It's ridiculous. A couple of things about this. The very first thing I ever heard about Robin Givens. We remember, I didn't watch Head of the Class. A little too young to watch Head of the Class at that point. The very first time I ever heard Robin Givens heard her name was

somebody saying, that's the bitch that broke Mike Tyson. So, think about it. Mike Tyson is the heavyweight champion of the world at a time where being the heavyweight champion of the world still really really, really mattered to black people, to America, whatever. It still was that guy.

We hadn't lost it yet. We hadn't gotten to the mid-2000s where nobody could even name who the guy who had the belt was. So it was a big deal. And he mattered too in a really unique. And a really unique cultural way. You know, we weren't too far removed from Ali. People still look to that position to that guy for inspiration for whatever reason.

Not saying that Mike Tyson was a huge, huge black cultural political figure, but he captivated the, uh, the, the, the, the, the minds and the, the hearts and the spirits and the culture of everyone. We all know that. He was a big, big deal. Um, so looking at her as sort of the almost biblical temptress, uh, that took down this Samson figure is a hell of a hill to climb. A hell of a hill to climb. The first movie that I, the first thing I actually ever saw Robin Givens in to where I was like, oh, she's dope. Was boomerang? that's the first time I ever saw her in anything and I was like oh well look well this is what the big deal is about because like before I would look at it and I was like oh but now I can look

at her and be like okay I could see what the big what the big huge thing was about I could see why Mike got played I could see why all this I could see it well like once you see it in these movies I get it like that could happen to me um when you add that uh plus the fact that you You know, Hollywood wasn't making black actresses into stars like that in the early 90s. I mean, you had a lot of actresses. Like, we're talking about Hallie Berry being launched, right? Hallie Barry's career being launched from this movie. The reality is that it would be almost another 10 years before Hallie Berry reached the A-list.

Now, if we're talking about being a known, recognizable leading woman in movies, that's one thing. But until Monsters Ball, until James Bond and Monsters Ball, We're talking about the end of the decade, the beginning of the next decade, 10 years. Till Hallie Berry would reach the Hollywood A-list. We're talking about a time where Aguilla Bassett gets nominated for an Academy Award for what's Love Got to do with it, and that doesn't catapult her to the A-list. Doesn't happen for it like that.

Like, there was a very specific way that black actresses, and really, which kind of persists even to this day, were kind of looked at, there were no Sharon Stone moments. Sharon Stone who built a career up, did that, had basic instinct, and then boom, you're out of here. That just wasn't happening for most people. It wasn't.

And so had everything gone right for Robin Givens, she still would have found, and she's beautiful, talented, oozing with cinematic charisma, right? It's on display in this movie. It's on display in Arrace of Harlem. Had everything gone right for her, she still would have been up against it.

But also being a woman that led to the fall of a guy who was legitimately at one point as big as Michael Jordan or Bo Jackson or Magic Johnson. It was a death sentence for her career in a lot of ways. And we also, we didn't have all the information back then. It was just an easy way to explain it to be like, this guy was invincible. And then he met Robin Givens and now he's losing in Tokyo to Buster Douglas. It's her fault. Can we relitigate this for one second? Yeah, I was going to say the Barbara Walters interview.

I just feel like, can you guys... That killed her. Like, that was the thing that did her in, right? That killed her, yeah. Yeah. And legitimately in some ways, too, because it just was... She's so unlikable in that interview, regardless of what the circumstances were. The reality of that relationship is everybody lost.

Everybody behaved badly. And there were no winners. There's no good guys in it. It's one of the worst celebrity relationships we've had. if OJ and Nicole are the 10 out of 10, it's like an 8.5 or 9. But the Givens thing, you talked about how you didn't know her and head of the class.

I remember watching her on that show. It was honestly the equivalent of putting Sharon Stone for Basic Instinct in like a high school. She was in a different show. You didn't know what was going on, but she's interacting with people in a way that just was not typical for 80 sitcoms, where there's sexuality even in that.

So she's great. And then you have the Holly Berry thing. You know, the biggest flaw of this movie, which I really don't have a lot of nitpicks for, is Eddie's not supposed to realize how hot Hallie Berry is for an hour and a half of the movie because she's really not wearing lipstick. That's the only really. And then all of a sudden, she starts wearing makeup and he's like, what the fuck's going on? But if there's a stretch it's at, to be fair, he might not know any woman

if she's not wearing makeup. It's fair. We should also mention, because we got to get to the categories at some point, one of the first great 1990s soundtracks. And during an era when soundtracks were kind of getting revived as a way to accentuate a movie, promote a movie,

push a movie to the next level, you've got early Tony Braxton on here. You have an iconic PM Dawn song on here. You have Boys of the Men, Boys to Men, end of the road. You get Johnny Gills on here, Tribe Called Quest. The soundtrack was a piece of this when it came out.

Everybody had the soundtrack. Oh, yeah. I mean, I had a roommate in high school. We listened to it all the time. And it was a pleasure. It was, you know, the Grace Jones song on that soundtrack. Yeah. Is great.

Seven-day weekend. I mean, it was a baby-faced-produced soundtrack with the, the Dallas Austin, some extra, like a little bit of Dallas Austin on it. And the PM Dawn song is on the short list of greatest songs you could have had in a rom-com because it starts out with the piano in the beginning. It sets a certain mood. Then he comes in basically Acapella with just a little piano. And then it's the song is, I die without you.

Like you're basically not coming up with a better hammer for a rom-com song. I'm still in on PM Dawn, by the way. I still have all my style from the early 90s. Don't get out. Don't sell that. I still own all my stock waiting for them to have a resurgence. So 40 million budget made $131 million, as we said, most expensive black movie ever at the time.

Mixed reviews, even now, 49% on rotten tomatoes. So 51% of those people can fuck off. Roger Ebert, our guy, three stars. Quote, boomerang, is powerful evidence that Eddie Murphy is back on track. It shows a kinder, gentler, funnier, Eddie Murphy that we've seen in recent years, a comic actor who can go for the little laughs as well as the big ones and build a character at the same time.

I completely agree. I think this is Eddie at the peak of his powers. Go ahead, Wesley. I find it really interesting. I'm just really fascinated by the negative reaction to this move, the sort of racially tinged. I mean, the racist and, like, racially tinged reaction to this movie. For one thing, I mean, Roger Ebert, I just feel like if you know any black people, as Roger Ebert did, I just don't find this. This is not a strange experience.

It's just a movie. And then you can evaluate it as to whether or not it works on the terms of the movie that you're watching, right? I don't think everything in this movie works. We can talk about what those things may or may not be. Tread carefully. You know, it's not anything that will hurt your feelings. But I do feel like the alleged foreignness of the movie is, it is just mind-blowing to me that you can't even begin to appreciate

what is it or isn't working because you haven't been invited to the party. It's just, I don't think I need to say this, but like, welcome to the movies for every single other person who isn't a white person in this country. We learned, we never, I've never left a movie. I mean, I have left movies complaining about how other people are treated. But I, you know, I didn't leave the natural upset that, you know, here was a baseball movie about, you know, the perfect white man. Didn't bother me. about a decade where this is just slowly shifting, not just in movies and TV shows, but in sports, too. Like, this is, you go, Alan Iverson in 96 shows up in the end game.

People are like, what the fuck's going on with that guy? What's going on this hair? What's going on this tattoos? This is the course of the 90s. By the end of it, we start ending up in a better place and now think how ironic it is now, like where black culture has become popular culture in so many different ways. It's just we weren't we weren't even close to even being in the on-deck circle yet in 1992. And you can feel it in those reviews.

Yeah. So when like, so when I remember watching the two quintessential Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan movies, right? Sleepless in Seattle. And then later on, you've got mail. It came back around to it, right? I love both movies, by the way. And I watched Sleepless in Seattle so many times that it never occurred to me that there are no black people in that movie, right? but you know who it did occur to?

It occurred to them. Because by the time you've got mail comes on, they shoehorn Dave Chappelle into the movie for two or three weird scenes where he just comes in and goes, hey, hey, this is us acknowledging that there are black people in New York. Just, we got Dave Chappelle. Like, we're just going to let everybody know we get it.

We're acknowledging that this guy would have a couple of black people in his orbit. What I never understood, though, was why I was always expected to watch movies and just assume that there's a group of white people that don't know any black people, right? And why that same thing was never acceptable on the other side. There's a possibility that there are places, right? For example, there's another movie around the same time. It's almost like Boomerang Light. it's kind of similar.

Strictly business. Also has Hallie Berry. Also has Hallie Berry in it. Same type of deal. Black professionals, anything, a love story. Tommy Davidson is almost the exact Chris Rock character in this movie in an expanded role. Kind of the same thing. And at the end of the movie, the company gets bailed out by like a black bank.

And that's when I realized as a kid that there were black banks with only black people in them. And I watched a movie with my, with my homies is like, like some of my, my friends from school and they'd say stuff. Maybe like, like, what world is this? Or like, like, where is there a black bank where? Like, I'm telling you, Van, you know what I'm saying? You say stuff like this. And it just speaks to the sense of entitlement sometimes that mainstream America feels like

they have to our story. They feel like they're so entitled to everything that's been involved. with or sort of around blackness. Like, this country is so there is that we can't even take a couple of moments to tell a story that's just about us. Because where is that real at? And that's real all over the place. Now, later on in the decade we talked about, there's another little resurgence of the

wood and brown sugar and loving basketball and movies that essentially took this playbook from Boomerang and then took them to the next level in a way in existence. experiencing and exploring the depth of Black Love, even Love Jones and things like that. But at this point, they were saying, no, like, you can't do that. And that's why I think this particular movie, like, even the soundtrack ushered in a golden era of soundtracks, right? Right after this, we're going to go to the above the rim soundtrack and to set it off soundtrack and the way to exhale soundtrack.

Like throughout the 90s, we're going to get all of these dope-ass soundtracks. I don't think he could be understated how important this movie is. in terms of what it did for black culture. This was the first time beyond, I guess, the Cosby Show that I looked at all of these successful, beautiful, natural, amazing black people and, like, really felt inspired by it. And they were sexy and they were loud.

They were everything that we are. You know what I mean? So I dig it. And I don't think looking back on it now, we would make something like this and kind of be like, fuck you if you don't understand. But you're dealing with Eddie Murphy at that point who needed that, who people,

wanted, they feel like they had to have a piece of him. It's interesting though because you got 92 where rap is really going into the mainstream that year. You have in lim and color on TV. You've all these different pieces are in place. And then this movie comes out and everybody goes glass half empty on it, right? It makes 70 million bucks. It's a top 20 movie that year. But the story is, oh, an Eddie Murphy movie didn't open the number one in the box office for the first time ever. I wonder why. why that could be, yeah. Yeah, it's all this coded shit about presenting it like it's a failure.

Meanwhile, it's the opposite of a failure. It ends up, it made $131 million. They spent 40, so tripled its budget. And then, you know, they brought this back as a BET show. So there was a lot of boomerang stuff online last year about the movie and what it became. And it's really interesting, like to these stories that people wrote about, how this just became one of the essential Black American movies. And it's like every Thanksgiving, my family watches boomerang and shit like that, that if you go back and read the reviews, nobody had any idea it was going to unfold that way.

I think people felt like this was a failure. And it's really weird. It really doesn't add up if you think about Eddie, the amount of money it made. The stars that are in this movie or unleashed in this movie or breaking through in this movie, it's very bizarre that people didn't see that. Not just the stars, the legends. So talk about stars, right? You talk about stars there and it. But like then if you were talking about boomerang,

you might not necessarily talk about like what a big star like John Witherspoon is, right? But the reality of the situation is a lot of what John Witherspoon became to people throughout the rest of this decade. It was from that movie. It was from this movie. The jacket open. Yeah. Yeah.

Like the bang, bang, all of it. It's from this movie. A lot of that. legend, a lot of that legend of that insanely prolific and, you know, talented man starts right here. This is the first time I ever saw him. So, you know, this movie is responsible for a lot, man, like in a real way. Well, let's go into the categories because we have a lot to cover. Most rewatchable scene. I'm going to, it's tough to narrow this down. So I try to, but if I missed anything, feel free to throw it in. And we can also, we have what's age the best for some of the

smaller stuff. The first lunch with Eddie Murphy, Marcus, and David Allen Greer when he's talking about, once I hate it, I lose all interest, but it's my fault. Martin Lawrence is doing his as asparagus spears thing. Why don't they call it asparagus tips? It's all racial.

I ordered the duck, right? What a vegetable comes with them? Ooh, that's a good one. It's sauteed asparagus spears, and it is good. It's our special. Oh. Delicious.

That sounds good. You'll love them. Oh, God. Bye-bye. All right. That sounds good, thank you. That sounds good. Come.

What? Why don't she just come out, man? And say it. Call us jungle bunnies, man. What? Asparagus spares. What? If we were white, it would have been asparagus tips.

Racial, man. Racial, man. Oh, man, you tripping that. Eddie spots the Hot Dog Walker. In, like, five minutes, they really lay out all these guys in a really cool way. And I got to be honest, like, I don't know if there was a movie before this that had three black friends who were adults just talking about stuff like this.

Zero. This had to be the first scene, right, ever? Who weren't going to jail or talking about how not to go to jail or like how to obey the police? Never. Never happened. Because we had, like, do the right thing, has some fun scenes with people talking, but it's not like this. It's just like three guys normal hanging. Where nobody's life is in danger? No. Yeah.

It doesn't, does never happen. They do a whole chicks with dicks thing that's a little weird that has not age great in this scene but it also is a little yeah. I'll say it. Just don't even, come on.

It's transphobia. He, he, every, every single thing that happens with homophobia and transphobia in this movie is like, Eddie was like, I know what the rumors are. I'm getting everything out here.

Oh my God. I'm so glad you said that. I know what the rumors are and I'm not, going to be the person who has the fetish, this so-called fetish, but we got to address it. And Dan's died right now.

David Allen Greer, you got to take the hit. You got to take the hit. You got to take the hit. Bro, that, bro, it's almost as if Eddie wrote that scene with a crystal ball knowing down the road what was coming. You know what I'm saying? Like this movie

is, as much as this movie, this movie is, a part of this movie is Eddie Murphy going, just to let you guys know. I'm sexy and I get chicks. So fuck what you've heard. And I'll like, I will have to talk about that. And that's like a big part of that scene because they go so hard in that on that scene. Even watching it back, I laughed hysterically.

And it's literally the first bit of the movie. Right. The first thing they go into is that. And the irony of how the next couple years played out. We'll just leave that hanging. Leave that there. The next rewatchable scene, Marcus, has to sleep with Lady Eloise

and then goes to work the next day and sees Robin Givens. This is like a perfect six minutes. Like the reactions of the butler, trying to laugh. Yo! That dude is so good. He's so good.

And he laughing my ass off this morning. It is so amazing how awesome that guy is, man. He makes that scene. Can he turn down the lights? He turned down a little more. All that stuff. And then him going to work the next day with Robin Gibbons. And then Eartha Kitt leaning into his ear.

I'm not wearing any underwear. It's just, it's just great. You should see the way she just, uh, she throws herself at young, handsome, virile man. What are you trying to imply that I hit it? Oh, no, I see what you're saying. My God's, darling. Hey, how you, how you doing, Lady Eloise?

Next one. I personally, for most rewatchable, would just have the brief thing when he sees Robin Gibbons for the first time and his head tilts. And he does the whole, you're just breathtaking. And she's just immediately like, oh, great line. But that could be at Wood's age the best. Next scene, Eddie and Robin Givens flirting at the party when she does the, when I seduce you, long dramatic pause. when I seduce you, if I decide to seduce you, don't worry, you'll know.

Even Sharon Stone's like, fuck, that's good. That's good. I don't even know if I could have pulled that one off. Just the electricity between them. And then he goes into work and Chris Rock's doing the office pool thing. And it's really great stuff. Can I just say that greasiness, like, An essential component to this style of movie is self-confidence and breeziness.

And the job of the screenwriters is to set up a contraption by which two or three confident people have to somehow change course personality-wise, right? Like, they are fully formed, developed people who believe that everything they say and do is correct. they've never been challenged before but here is this immovable object in one of these two people and somebody's going to have to get out of the way and so if you've got a script that can handle that

you can cast the most confident person in the world to be as confident as they can possibly be in her breeziness like no she he has never worked with a person who is as as self-possessed as Eddie Murphy is he's never worked with anybody who has no neurosis, who is sure in every single thing she's doing, as sure as he is, he's never worked with anybody who has that.

And that is the thrill of those scenes. You're watching somebody actually be able to take it to Eddie Murphy. Well, the other thing is she's tiny. She's got to be like 5-9-5 pounds, 100 pounds. It's almost like watching Alan Iverson taking on the 2001, Lakers. I mean, he's not that much bigger. I know, but physically, it's not, it's not like she's this towering whatever.

She's just this little, no, she's not, Grace Jones. Spitfire. It's unbelievable. Anything to add on that van before we move on? I mean, for me, the most rewatchable scene, me, for me, period. Oh, no, no, I'm going through. I just didn't know if you had any Robbenz. Oh, no.

I mean, listen, you guys want me to get weird about it. The fact that the reality is that anytime she's on screen, she sizzles. And I actually, you said something earlier, Robin Givens sons Halle Berry in this movie. Now, it's, it's, it's, it's, I had that in unanswerable questions later, but yeah, we can talk about it now. It's partly done by design. I mean, I watch the, in rewatching it, there's the scene where they, where they're having a lady Eloise party. and Robin Givens walks up looking like she's about to hit the red carpet at the Academy Awards. And literally, Hallie Berry is wearing a sparkly black Moomoo that shows not one centella of her shape,

which is her silhouette is movie star all-time famous. They really worked to make sure that Hallie Berry wasn't coming off, but they achieved their goal. Robin Givens, even at the end of the movie where Hallie Berry has gone, Corrella DeVille, and she is all hot and wearing form. It's still, I'm still thinking, damn, could I have got out of bed with Robin Givens and gone back to this?

I don't think I could have. I was texting you guys last, I would texting you the screenshot of Eddie about to leave Robin Givens's bed. I'm like, no way, no bed, no man. You did. It never happens. It's never happening ever.

Nobody's getting out of her bed. Yeah. And so, and so like I think that in and of itself, because Halliberry, like you said, might be top 1% finest women of all time. Just God bless her. But Robin Gibbons, she pulls it off. Well, they go toe to toe. One scene after she starts dating Eddie Murphy, just got the hat on. And they're showing her the new Strons J commercial. And Robin Givens is kind of realizing their thing. And how? Ali's kind of bringing it. She's got the hat. That's when she starts making her MVP case in that scene. She's looking great. That little battle, though, is a fun one.

And it's a good argument, too. Well, but the thing that I love about Halliberry in this movie, though, is that she goes in the opposite direction, though. Like, it's not, you know, there's a version of this movie where she is not encouraged to have a personality. She's just encouraged to be, like, mousy and sweet, right? But Hallie Berry is funny in this movie. She made me laugh like four times.

And it was stuff that I don't even think is in the script. I think it's like, Hallie Barry just being like, well, if these panties come my way, I am making them go away. And she just, her line deliveries are funny. I mean, Hallie Berry, as much as I love her,

she is not one of the, she's not been given a lot of opportunities to be funny. But when she takes them, the movies are never good, but she's really funny in Babs. She is really good in Jungle Fever as Samuel L. Jackson's girlfriend.

Really good. If you let her be funny and not have to be Hallie Berry, she's fantastic. And she's not Hallie Berry yet in this movie. So she gets to be funny without the baggage of having to also be beautiful Hallie Berry.

She's so funny in this movie. In the research, they were saying she had like a lot of trouble keeping a straight face during like every John Witherspoon moment. And so I read the research before I watched it again. And when you watch her in that movie, it's hilarious. If you just, because it's hard not to look at John Witherspoon in that scene because he's

just swallowing up the entire movie. But she's like just like looking down eating, but you can see like she's about to break for three minutes. Like she can't even look at him because she knows she's going to ruin the scene. I agree with you. I always thought there was a funny side to her. and it's ironic that Monsters Ball became the movie that pushed over the top, which is probably a top seven most depressing movie of all time.

What are the other six? I don't know. There's no such thing as a movie. Like, I'm watching this shit. I'm like, yo, the next time, rather than go see Monsters Ball, I'll just pay $15 for someone to kick me in my nuts over and over and over and over again. Like, I've never seen anything like that movie before in my life. And I went to see it for only one reason.

But I can't believe that's easily the most depressing movie of all time. Make me feel good. Make me feel good. We can go to Europe. We can go to Europe. It can be top. Are you reversible? Yeah, it can be top. Next rewatchable scene, Hally cheers up Betty Murphy by bringing him to the art class.

And then they hang afterwards and they go to the Strangé thing. And we get the old guy trying to figure out. it's Grace Jones's nipple or not. It's got to be a nipple because I'm drooling. Eddie in the art class is just like classic old school 80s Eddie with that little girl next to him and she's doing the thing and he's imitating her. It's just, it's so fucking likable. I just love that part.

Next one. Look, I'm not splitting up the John Witherspoon scenes. I'm just lumping them all together into the John Witherspoon section of this movie, which includes the mushroom suit and that his reaction to it. When you saw me, you saw the mushroom shirt. Bang, mushroom shirt.

But you can't stop with the mushroom shirt. You gotta go on. I ought to stop that shit. No, you got to keep going. Okay. Now, let me show you something. Look at that. Oh, you got on a mushroom belt.

Gerard, did you know your pops had a mushroom belt on? Yes. But you don't stop there. See? You got to keep going. What you got? Mushroom ring? Yes, good idea.

Look what I got. Da. Gerad. Did you know on the inside was special mushrooms? Yes! Marcus, I heard your pussy whipped. And everybody reacted. They'd go, don't be pussy with him.

Whip that pussy! And do it this whole thing on that. The bathroom scene. The parents were smoking and enjoying my bathroom. No, they've been in there fucking. Goodness, what's for dessert? Wow. Oh, yeah.

The parents coming out of the bathroom. It's the beat. him hugging David Allen Greer. Just all incredible. I'm just going to, to spoiler, this is my favorite part of the movie. I just love every single ounce of this. I love every second of it. Apparently they improvised just about all of it.

And even to the point when his suit, they didn't know he was going to wear that suit with her spoon. Eddie was really bullish on having him. And then Reginald Hudlin said, those guys came up with just about everything on the spot. He said he compared it to Miles Davis and John Coltrane. You have the funniest people in the world. And he goes, if there was a day where it was Eddie and David and Martin, David and Martin would stand together.

They would just be doing something funny. The whole crew gathering around them, they just wanted to eavesdrop. And then when John Witherspoon and BB Drake joined the group, it was literally too much funny. It was a completely unbearable amount of funny. Yeah. It sounds amazing. Well, this is the weird thing about this movie.

though. And this is why I'm shocked watching it now how unpolished it is. But it all feels the thing that's sort of glorious about it is the thing that sort of keeps it from being a great movie movie and the thing that makes it like outrageously

watchable until the end of time. Which is that Reginald-Hudlin made a choice to keep just the best takes of whatever happened and not the ones that made the movie cohere, right? Yeah.

Because there's a version of this movie. This movie does not need that John Witherspoon sequence. Well, I would have a news flash for you. Eddie demanded they added to it. Right. Like, this is basically shoehorned in because Eddie's like, we got to get John Witherspoon in here. And it makes sense.

Yes. But the movie doesn't need it. You don't need this movie. That scene does nothing. But it's one of those, it's a pleasurable sequence that I actually like about a certain kind of movie that can handle it. But the movie was made in a style

that can make it so that if you've got Grace Jones doing what Grace Jones is doing in this movie and you got Eartha Kit doing what Eartha Kid is doing in this movie, then why not just throw in the John Witherspoon BB Drake scene? Because you've got all this other crazy shit happening.

Why not have this? What's one more six-minute scene of just utter bring... I couldn't even... When I saw this movie, I couldn't hear what was being said, on at least three different occasions

because the audience was like rolling around on the floor of the movie theater. I'll never forget it. I'm like, you guys, we can't hear. And they didn't leave space for people to like crack up. It was, it just was a wild movie-going experience. That scene killed the movie.

Like, I'll be honest with you. I disagree with you guys. I think the scene, I'll be honest with you. First of all, I love this. I love the scene. I think it's my favorite, it's my favorite scene in the movie. And it's like,

even when we lost John, like, I posted it and said, like, this is when I realized the genius of John Wood's film. Tell you why, I think the scene works in the movie. Like,

a lot of things happen to Marcus Graham in the film, right? A lot of things happened to him. Like, he loses things, he gains things, right? And at the end, what's going to, even like,

in the way, everything is, it's boomerang, but there are a lot of parallels in the movie. So, like, Robin Givens overwhelms him with sensuality and sexuality and beauty and strength and confidence. And then Hallie Berry overwhelms him with heart. He's down, so she takes him to go see some children and stuff like that.

It's a completely different way of getting someone to be enamored with you. And we've, you know, what wins in the end. Like in this particular situation, his relationship with his homies is something else. At the beginning of this film, they worship him. right they say pin house for himself doesn't happen to anyone except for marcus like everything is about worshiping marcus marcus comes back down to earth to where his version of himself ends up hurting one of his boys it hurts his friend that is the most vulnerable of the three because he likes this girl now this guy that marcus graham uh this this dude that he's sort of deified in a way

it's finally impinging on to one of his friendships. In the scene with him and his dad, you see why David Allen Greer's character is so vulnerable. You see why he's so open-hearted and why he doesn't assert himself. You see that any room he's always been in in his life, his father and his mother have just sucked the oxygen out of the room. So whereas anybody else has had to sort of like,

you know, Marcus has had to find out ways to assert himself in all of these situations to get what he want. David Allen Greer's character has had to find out a way to cope with different things, right? And so in the time when he and Marcus are having this beef, what he was really kind of asking his homeboy to do was to protect him a little bit because he thought that that's why they were friends. So when he goes, you can have all the girls, like why not just this girl, he's asking for something from his man that he really hasn't gotten a lot of other places in his life.

And even in that hug, that hug at the end of that scene where they hug it up, it's like, dog, I'm with you, I got you. But he doesn't even know that that's going to be betrayed in a little bit. So, and like with me, kind of like having that same relationship with my dad, my dad's a big character and stuff like that. Like I related to that. I remember thinking, damn, you know, like being at a table where people are carrying on and you feel unseen and your pops is the star,

your pops is fucking in your homeboy's bathroom. And you're like, you know what I'm saying? It's like, I always watch that. And it was funny, but also I thought it was actually great writing because it told the story of kind of why David Allen Greer's character looks at life the way he looks at life. That's a solid case. That's really good.

I was shoehorned in, but I think you're right. It's the background we need for David Allen Greer's character. to be so upset later, other than just that they're friends. But if I can just be a studio executive for one second. I never thought I'd ask, but I'm wearing this mustache. I feel like I'm entitled to be some studio executive. I feel like you could probably have done that without John Witherspoon. I feel like there's probably a way that you can do that in like one minute that doesn't need any of that.

doesn't need any of that stuff. Now, I'm not saying you have to make it go because if I'm the studio executive and you bring me that scene, I'm going to be really, it's going to be impossible for me to cut it because I know what it'll do in a movie theater. But, well, you know what, Wesley? That was great. That was perfect. We could probably do Christmas without Christmas.

I mean, I don't know where we stop with things you want to take away from us. Like the John Witherspoon seed. Two more rewatchable seats. The pool game when the three of them were playing and Martin goes to get beers and then Eddie asked about Hallie Berry

and why are you asking? And then there's that long pause is it, why are you asking? Okay, good, good. So you don't mind if she goes out with other guys. Oh, y'all know. Oh, you're thinking of hook her up with Tyler?

No, nothing like that. Why are you asking, I was just curious Eddie's performance is really good in that scene like he won't look at him that he's embarrassed like it's just

I think it's really authentic and I thought it was well done and this is the first movie where I realized what a good actor he is yes he's so good in this movie just just his present

he is present for every person with Witherspoon and the jacket he is just like first of all he's in awe of John Witherspoon and you can see that

a little bit, but he also is just like, he is letting John Witherspoon happen. And I don't know if it's Eddie thinking they might not use this scene, so I'm going to let John just do John. Or, but he's so reactively present

with John Woodrow. He's not just like standing there, letting John Wutherpoon like, like dunk on him. He is very much an active part. Like, he's signaling in some way to John Wutherstpoon to just keep going. Like whatever is happening right now, just take it to fruition.

I'm here. I'm here. This is something you said during the Beverly Hills Cop pod that his ability to bring out whatever the best qualities are of one other person in the scene and connect with people was his best skill as an actor. He is so

secretly generous. He really is. I mean, this is why Robin Givens is so good in this movie. It's why you know, I mean, even Tisha Campbell, who had many opportunities to do a version of what she did in this movie on Martin when that show starts. She, Layla Rashon, I mean, every scene, every person he's got a scene with,

oh my God, that wonderful lab doctor, the technician who is like appalled by Stranger and the direction they want to take the, that little actor, I don't remember what that guy's name is, he is just delightful with Eddie Murphy. And that is a thing that happens, I think, only if you feel comfortable enough to to let somebody else do the work they need to do in a scene. Well, by the way, that was SNL training, right? Like, ultimately the best SNL cast members, Will Ferrell, whoever, those are the guys who connect with the other thing.

Yvette, you'd want thing to say on this, man? No, I was just saying, I agree. Like, I think, it's funny you guys mentioned Beverly Hills Cop. When I watch Beverly Hills Cop, I almost think, I always think about how much I love Taggart and Rosewood. Like, I love, like, like, the real reason why the movie is so dope it's because I love Eddie. Of course, I love Axel.

But I love the little, like, relationship between Taggart and Rosewood and Axel Foley. And that's because Eddie kind of knows how to do that. But, like, this is the first movie where I realized, because this is also the first movie where he's not jumping off of the screen almost. I mean, Golden Child, he's a little bit more muted too. But, like, that's embarrassment, man. That's, yeah. I love that movie.

He really is, he really is, it's very solid. like really good. And we would see, obviously he would go on to, like, do great things in serious roles. The last scene I have for rewatchable is the three buddies making up on the roof. Yeah. It's really, all of this is just really good. And then Martin Lawrence coming in late telling him to make up, not realize they already had the hug. No, we already did that.

And he said, no, man, one big motherfucking hug, man. Yo, man. What's up, man? Y'all going to let a girl come between us, man. What's up? We're supposed to be here, man. We're boys, man. We don't hang out no more of nothing, man. That this shit hurt, man.

Don't make up now, man. We just, you know, made up, man. We then hugged. We hugged just now. We hugged and gave each other a pan and we boys again. I didn't give it to me. We just hugged already. No, man.

One big motherfucking hug, man. Damn, man, I love you all, man. And then it goes right into the P.M. Dawn song. and the Empire State Building, the lights turning off. Honestly, it's really good movie making. I think in general, this is a really well-crafted, well-polished movie, but that scenes just good. It's one of those scenes you can see in your head.

You can see them on the roof. You can see the building behind them. And, you know, ultimately, this is a movie about these three guys. I think it's all this other shit's going on. But it's really a movie about the three guys and their friendship. And then it's going on all these tangents. I would have liked to have seen, I mean, to that point, Bill, I feel like the two and a half hour version of this movie, or at least like the two hour and ten minute version of this movie, where you, where like Martin Lawrence's life becomes more, like they figure out a way to build some relationship for him into this plot. And it becomes more of a, like the farce, the movie is also a farce, right?

and the degree to which it is willing to let the farce take over so much of it, which it basically does until the end, I would have liked to have seen Martin Lawrence with a bigger stake in the degree to which this movie is a farce. Although all of his race stuff is so outlandish that is basically, and it is another. His relationship is basically with racism. That's his girlfriend. True. And, you know, he doesn't, he, he,

is completely dogged by that in his racial theories, which, which, and when I was in high school, like, he was the most powerful person in the movie. Because every time he said something, it was like, oh, my God, I never thought about that. Yo. I never thought about it that way. Re-watching it, I just can't, like, I can't tell you how many times I've been

watching that movie and sitting down with one of my cousins or something like that and go, he write though. Yep. Spears. They wouldn't have, like, like, like, y'all keep saying that. Y'all say that if y'all want. He's right though. And then the scene where they're walking out of the clothing store and then Eddie jumps at the guy.

We did that for years. Yep. Like we like for like for years, we would just jump in somebody. It's just like we did that for years. Martin is kind of like the Alex Caruso in the movie. Like he, everybody likes to see him when he's in the game. But when he's in there, he makes an impact. But he's not in it as much as you would think.

It's like, but it's still, though, I still contend that coming off of like house party and this, this was kind of like this movie was in a weird way, an initiation into Martin a little bit. Because I think had the show started yet? No. No. It had so in the world. Like, we knew Martin, but this was kind of like an initiation to him. It was a big, big, big part of his career, big part.

Same director. True or false, this movie was supposed to originally end with them on the roof. It feels like an ending. That does feel like an ending. They added all the other stuff. Yep. It feels like an ending. Really? Yeah.

Wow. Okay. The roof was the ending. And I don't know whether they added it after they finished the script or after they had the original cup, but one original of Hudlin's friends was like, you can't end it that way. Marcus has to make a choice.

And so they added the Yeah, this is what I'm saying about the sort of about the way this movie does not feel like it was, it was, it's one of those editing room movies. It just does not feel like a thing that came off the page. We're going to talk about that when we do what stage is the worst. For most we watch, I have Witherspoon. You guys, Van has Witherspoon. What do you have, Wesley? I have, I mean, we have not talked about my complicated feelings about that scene, though.

I feel like it pre-it, like there's a long. history of that scene in black theater. There's also a post history of that scene in Tyler Perry's black theater. That is a scene out of black theater just straight up.

And it just brings with it all this baggage that I think for old people in the audience for a certain kind of old people, like the huxtable kind of old person in the audience for this movie. It's like, well, why do we need to bring? Why do we need why do we need this in here?

And the idea that you would have that those two people, the part of the farce of having this sort of this black culture convergence where you'd have these southern black people bringing chitlands into a boozy black person's house, that is a boogey black person's worst nightmare is to have to clean some chitlands

in their like $100,000 kitchen. And the idea that Hallie Berry would be one of the Pallybury who we don't know but this light skin black lady would be this beautiful light skin black lady would also be like asked to deal with with Chitlands is also

supposed to be funny and the movie knows that it just is like it's a if you it's a strange scene from the standpoint of a combination of black culture and black snobbery so it's not your pick

it's extremely I don't know. You don't have a most rewatchable scene? Oh, anything with... Oh, the boardroom, the first time that Grace Jones goes to the boardroom and tries to name all the...

Comes up with the name for the perfume. Steel vagina. You understand that one? Yeah. Steel vagina is one of the funniest things... I mean, I was in tears. I was in tears. Steel vagina.

It's fantastic. What's age the best? Jeffrey Holder as the horny ad creative nasty Nelson the first time we see him he's like here's my ad for the kissable

kissable campaign and models are just giving blowjobs to bananas and he's so the cherries the cherries that guy's great what I love about that scene is that he's so dejected

when Eddie says you know we can't do blow jobs on bananas like after the coffee show he's stunned he's stunned Yeah, he's like, he's so upset. Don't be upset.

What do you mean? I can't have a model licking between the cherry. I can't do Cunneligas on fruit. Like, in prime time. What do you mean? And so I love that part of it. I like it. Good.

I like the orange. I like the ice cream. You got to get rid of the cherries and lose the banana. Cherry and banana. And that's a little Brunwell, a little dollies with it. You know. Well, that's a little too overt. we should go a little more subtle.

I think some women might get offended. All right. But I dug it. I dug it. Don't make that he didn't dig it face. I dug it. You just got a little nasty like you always do. Oh, right.

Okay. Another one stage the best. This movie created Martin. So on the set, Reginald Hudlin, he was always raving about Tisha Campbell, Martin Lawrence, and Murphy said to Hudlin,

you should do a film with the two of them. And Lawrence was working on his TV pilot at the time, overheard them talking, and said, I'll just get her to be my girlfriend in the show. And that's how she ended up on Martin. So the story goes. It sounds a little cute and perfect, but...

I'm not saying it sounds cute. I'm saying he saw her and he wanted her to be the girlfriend on the show. File this away for later. That ended up rearing its ugly hair. Yeah, it also shows up at what's age the worst. Yeah. Right. Another what's age the best.

Hammer time and the Twizzah are just, I just feel like if you say those things to anybody who likes this movie, they'll know it. The fucking Twizzah kills me. The Eddie orgasm scene the second time she's riding him

and he has the orgasm with his feet and she starts kissing his neck. He's doing that whole thing and she's kissed the neck is so fucking funny. We mentioned Lady Aloyses Butler. Strong-janged helicopter entrance is just like a good movie scene. I just really enjoy it.

She comes out. The trunk breaks out of it. It's really well filmed. I mentioned how, oh, the decision for Marcus and Angela to end up together was the last minute rewrite. Hallie Berry, just her in this movie, almost a perfect rom-com character. I don't, if you're like, hey, come up with some nitpicks for this character, we need some notes. How do we make her better? I'm like, you're good?

I have no notes. You just go. If there was any justice in the world, she'd have become Meg Ryan right after this movie came out. Like if there was any justice in the world, when you talk about someone with that level of beautiful, but she can vacillate from beautiful to cute and do the whole thing,

I couldn't agree with you guys more. She really made the most. She was like, in many ways, it's her most complete performance. Like she like, she kind of, she stole every scene she was in. And she was kind of just like, because there are times, natural. There were, exactly. There were times in her career, you know, losing Isaiah moments where she was, you know, forcing it.

But in this film, it's everything about Hallie Berry that kind of makes you believe that she was going to be a movie star that she actually became. Morewood's age the best. The role reversal stuff, even though it's a cliched rom-com thing, I think it's done really well. it's really smart. And even the sex scenes where it looks almost like she's Robin Gibbons's fucking Eddie the way they film it

where she's on top and it's not like she's riding them like Sharon Stone. It's like she's kind of fucking him. Yeah. I really noticed that. And he's like the, it's just really smart.

I'm not saying anything. Yeah. This movie is telling on you, Eddie. Strangay, commercial number one, which ends Strangay, it stinks so good when it goes wrong, when Eddie lets Jeffrey Holder's character

just do his own commercial. And all fucking hell breaks soon. She passes the perfume bottle out of her. The best part about that thing to me is just how horrified, horrified Earth the kid is. Yeah. Like just how

she is beyond, she is so offended. I laugh every time, man. It's great. It's a nipple because I'm drooling, another what's age best. Marcus breaking down Star Trek as they're falling half asleep and talking about how Spock's last name was Spock Jenkins. So to no surprise, he ad libbed that whole thing. But you know, you're talking 92.

There wasn't a lot of content like this in movies. I think this was one reason like why Tarantino's movies took off because you would have these weird moments in the Tarantino movies where they talk about what was Spock's last name and shit, like that. Now it's like in the internet era, we've 20 plus years of people having these arguments. But in 92, just to see somebody talk about Star Trek for two minutes was fucking fun. You know? And you'd be like, oh, yeah. Yeah. Let's have some Captain Kirk talk. Another would say she best when Hallie actually dumps Marcus and she does that, you know what the bad thing about having a heart is, Marcus?

Get broken by people like you. The slap apparently was real. That's why it makes that sound. Like she really hits him. Oh yeah. Love should have brought your ass home last night. Which becomes the song. And then I like Eddie's clothes in this movie. Never wears a tie. No tie. Not one tie the whole time. Fantastic clothes. All stuff that I think would work now. He is ridiculously sharp in this film. Yes. Even like his little half-zip sweaters, all that shit's looking great. Only Harlem Knights can can compete with Eddie Murphy Sharpe. this year. Only Harlem. And then the last thing for me is the,

the whole getting whipped, having your heart broken, and then regaining your mojo is such like an identifiable real-life theme that you don't see pulled off correctly in movies enough. They do a nice job with this. Like even when Robin Given says to him later in the movie, like, oh, Marcus, you kind of got it going again.

You know, and just the whole lost regained mojo thing. I totally identifiable. We've all had been in relationships or something where you know, you get, you took a haymaker, your confidence gets shook and you got to work through it and then you're kind of back. And I think they did a good job with that in this.

There's so many things like that. What's aged the best. I like all yours. I like all, you got it. You got it all. Okay. What would you go with if you had to do a number one pick? I would say for me,

Hallie Berry. You say Hallie Berry Has age the best for me Her performance in this movie Because I agree with what you said, Van, where it's like, why wasn't she beg Ryan?

Like, I think that's a legitimate question I asked when you watch this in 2000. Yeah, I'd say, I'd say like, because even when I go back, because the knock on Hallie Berry

for a long time was that beautiful face only slightly competent actress, you know, if you look back on it now, maybe unfair, but that's not true. It's just not,

I mean, I mean, it's not fair, I guess, Not fair to put it. Yeah. And so when you look at this, she's like oozing with charisma and star power. It's almost like a, like when you watch Thelma and Louise and that one guy with a shirt off is only in the movie for a little bit, but you go, no, my kid's got something.

He's just like the screen loves him. He's, he's gliding in and out of this situation. She kind of has that same thing, but she's got a bigger role, obviously, but it kind of, she became a thing. but to be a real thing, it took Hollywood a little while to kind of catch up to Hallie Berry. And it didn't even catch up then. I mean, she won the Oscar

and she hasn't done anything remotely as interesting as Monsters Ball since she won the Oscar. Right? And I will say this is, I don't want to go into the whole history of America in making this point,

but I think there's a really important thing to think about when you think about when a black actor has a girl, great moment in a movie. And when the schools desegregated in 1954, they, you know, this is not sort of a documented thing, but, you know, they desegregated wrongly, essentially. And they put the onus on the desegregation on the kids, not on the teachers. It wasn't the teacher's job to segregate

the schools. It was the kid's job. And what do kids know about segregation, et cetera, et cetera. But anyway, the black teachers sued the state of Kansas to basically be put back in the schools, to have a fairer shot to teach black children once the black schools have been dismantled and the black kids had been sort of sent into these integrated environments to learn. And so suddenly you had all these black teachers with no jobs. In addition to it ruining a whole major portion of black education in this country, it also created this idea that black people

had nothing to offer other black people and this is a very long way of saying a lot of the best things I think black actors have done have been under the aegis of black producers and black directors with black writers and other black people

and I think that it's not that you can't be good in a movie made by a white person I just think you might be directed to do different things in a movie directed by another black person if you're a black actor. And all of Hallie Berry's best work has been, I think, with people with black directors. I think, you know, I'm thinking about like

Regina Hall and Kevin Hart in that remake of About Last Night. That was a movie. It's a better movie than you think it is. I dig that movie, bro. Regina Hall and Kevin Hart are so good in that movie. And it doesn't happen under different. I just think there's something about black people working with black people

that it's rare enough to be special and special enough to be comforting to the black artists when they're thinking about when they're just trying to practice their craft without the pressures of impressing white people. Don Cheadle and Devil in the Blue Dress. I mean, great example. Fantastic. Fantastic performances that, like, for some reason, slip through and people just, you know,

you sit down and you, you, I mean, obviously Don Cheadle is a fucking badass, but like, it's just like when we talk about the great performances in the 90s, there's one that people never talk about. Quickly on Hallie Berry. I don't want to belabor this too long. This was her 1991.

She made an appearance on a different world. Oh, yeah. Jungle fever. strictly business the last boy scout oh boy busy knots landing

not's landing not done six episode arc on not slanding all those things happen boomerang in 92 and then people are like howley bear is the thing this is her next slew of movies

fatherhood don't remember that one the Flintstones which was supposed to be a thing oh yeah she was Sharon Stone wasn't she wasn't that her character's name losing eyes

Isaiah, which was supposed to be a big prestige Oscar movie and just wasn't good. Executive decision, big action movie. It just wasn't happening. Wasn't happening. The rich man's wife, which was another one supposed to be a big movie, didn't happen.

Race the Sun, I don't know what that was. She was a teacher of kids in Hawaii or something like that, and they were building like race cars or something. BAPS? She was good in that. And then all of a sudden it's like, well, what the fuck's going on? She's in Bullworth. She said, why do fools fall in love?

And it wasn't until Dorothy Dandridge in 1999, she's good in that. And people are like, oh, Hallie Berry. She won an Emmy for that, I think. She wins an Emmy. And then there's this really fun twist where it goes, X-Man, 2000. She breaks them out in Swordfish in 2001. That was a big moment. That was a national event, you guys.

I mean, I didn't tell you to that. Like, it was, it was the, it was a huge career move. Drove 30 miles for it. Yeah. Like I was in college, in Rustin, I drove to Monroe to the theater there to see it. So I have that movie and then Jacko and I went and saw the Heaven's Prisoners with Terry Hatcher. Same reason. It's like she's.

Oh, I remember Terry Hatcher. Yes. Yes. Yes. That joint. There's a top of Terry Hatcher. See, I'm going. She was making a lot in that joint.

Yeah. Swordfish 2001 and the Monsters Ball. 2001. So it happens right here. I feel like she did have swings. They were just the wrong swings in a lot of ways. People did like her and think she was an important address. No, no, I'm not saying that I don't mean to say that she wasn't working. I'm saying for some reason, whatever it was supposed to happen, it didn't happen. Not in the way to elevate her. Like it didn't happen for a long time after that. Also, none of those parts were boomerang parts. No. None of those parts required her to just sort of be in a movie.

Like, she was either a girlfriend or a body or, you know, in some contrived action thing that wasn't even her movie. It was somebody else's. I think about, so in Pulp Fiction, could she have been Marcellus Wallace's girlfriend? Hmm. Question. I mean, I would have definitely, I mean, sure, why not? Maybe.

But she was, she's missing a part like that in a really good movie where she's not carrying it. and she's in it and she's awesome and people go, whoa. Or even if she had been in beautiful girls, like in the Uma Thurman part. Some part where she just goes in and takes over a movie for 20 minutes and leaves. She didn't even have that.

No. What's age to worse? Thank you, racism. What's age to worse other than Eddie not realizing Hallie Barry was hot for 90-solid minutes of the movie? Look, this is, I hate when they do this in movies, but Robin Givens really caring about this random 1992 Knicks game. Them really going for the whole.

Oh, she's a big sports fan. She's kind of like a guy. She just wants to have a beer and watch the Knicks. It just feels kind of forced. I'm sorry. Marcus and his buddies all working out together on the same machines, on the rowing machines, the three of them doing. Nobody does.

No guy, three guys don't work out together. And if they do, I haven't met them yet. I thought that was weird. I call the gym attendant. I always call the gym attendant. Yo, we got a romantic comedy happening over here. I break it up. I need to use one of these machines.

Three guys don't work out together? That never happens. That's it happened. You don't think that? Okay. Three guys just working out doing the same machines going to this, going from one of the other? No way.

What if they were lifting weights and getting pumped? That's fine. Together? Right. Not doing a whole routine. Not three rowing machines. So, I'm not going to say the entire shopping scene has aged the worst,

because I think it's an important scene in this movie in a lot of different ways. The part I don't like is when the racist store clerk just immediately goes into the, we don't keep cash in the store. It's so abrupt. Like, they easily just could have edited that out and the whole rest of the scene works. It's so strange that he just immediately goes to that place. Like, they're going to, I don't know. I just wish I cut that one line out.

I like everything else in the scene. Bill, can I give you? you a transcript of all the racisms that I've experienced. Like, we're like, they're just, I wish there had been an editor to cut that scene out of my life. Okay. All right. Fair. Fair.

I mean, I'm just saying, like, as comedy, it just, it did make me laugh. I was like, oh, well, this is just, now this is just a joke on, on racist things that happened to people in stores. And this guy is going to give us all of them. This is a really weird era of racist or judgmental storking. clerks. Because Pretty Woman has the great one where they go into the Pretty Woman. They just kind of, they just have no time for. I don't love Tisha Campbell in this movie.

I don't know if it's necessarily what's age the worst, but it's kind of a one-note part. She's in probably one scene too many. And then, you know, this is just a nerdy movie thing. But there's a lot of like fade to black cuts in the last 45 minutes, which I think goes back to Wesley's point about this movie's a little disheveled and patched together. And when you're doing these fade to black cuts, it's almost like

ah, well, I add that scene and then, well, it doesn't fit with the other scenes. I just did the fade to back cut again. It just feels amateuring. There's one specifically that is really bad. Like after they're watching the commercial, I guess,

the new commercial that he's made and he's fixed everything and it kind of just go to black. Like, Like that one, even when I was a kid and knew nothing about editing or pacing of a movie, I was like, that doesn't make any sense. Yeah, it's just lazy. That was really bad. Yeah.

Casting what ifs, we don't really have a lot for these. But we do have this. Hudlin Wad and Howie. Wait, I have a thing about what's age of the worst. Oh, go. Oh, let's hear it. Um, you guys, we just watched a like two-hour movie full of so much borderline sexual harassment. Like, if this movie were happening now,

you couldn't make this movie now. True. I just said that was inherent. Yeah. I didn't think I needed to say that. Actually, that's so weird. I just accepted that. Like, it's like, it's not even borderline.

Number one, Martin, Martin is jumping at people and stick. And then Lady Eloise is basically Kevin Spacey, like she, she, like, she literally, she's the worst. Like, so it's like. Kevin, Species, she's Harvey Weinstein. Harvey Weinstein, excuse me. You could say this is a pre-2 movie. Pre-2, yes, sure. It's just wild.

It's so rampant. Every single relationship. People, people, that's how a lot of people met, unfortunately. Casting What Ifs. Hudlin wanted Hallie Berry. She came and did a reading. He was nervous. Murphy wouldn't like her.

She did the screen test. Murphy said, that's it. There's no need to see the other actresses. And they didn't audition in the other act. actresses. You're not going to believe this, but executives of Paramount Pictures were nervous about Robin Givens being cast. She was so disliked in the general public, but they fought for her and they got her,

but they had Vanessa Williams as the backup for Jacqueline. Interesting. Yeah. It's a different movie, though. Yeah, it is. It is. You need the basic instinct thing of it. I mean, what's crazy.

Basic Instinct comes out the same year. You have the Basic Instinct, Catherine Tramel, Sharon Stone character, and you have this character in like a three-month span who are both one-seeds in the seductress pool. Most of everything else said there were no casting what-ifs. They knew kind of, they knew David Allen Greer was going to be an M. Martin, etc., etc.

Best that guy, a.k. the Joey Pants Award. Jeffrey Holder. Yeah. I don't know if most people know that Jeffrey Holder is his name. So that's the guy, the creepy ad guy. The Vincent Hanna,

give me all you got a word for overacting. Give me all you got! Grace Jones. Dows it up to a thousand. I don't know. Listen, I'm not saying I didn't love it, but she dials it up. Like, I think she deserves,

she should have got an Oscar nominee for the leg scene in the restaurant. I'm not arguing with you. I'm just saying she's bringing it. But you can't put Grace in the movie and not get Grace. You are you get grace When you see grace

You know it's fucking time to have a good time Dog Well you get you get grace Right yeah it's probably grace jokes It's it's grace The new category since the last time You guys did the pod The Brandy Booth Award

For Best Performance by a Pet This goes to Kirby Kirby the invisible dog I'm giving him Hsu's at 10 Kirby Kirby Curbby

So we never saw him But yeah that was I actually love how he calls Kirby just for himself after. Kirby. The rules is up. So the Dionne Waiters Award category for Best He Check. Oh, boy. Is it about as loaded as we've ever had.

Our nominees include Chris Rock, John Witherspoon, BB Drake, John Witherspoon's wife, Earth a Kit. I don't know if that's a nipple. but I'm drooling guy. The little girl in the art class who's in two scenes and steals both scenes. Just great. I think it's Witherspoon, but

I'm interested in your thoughts. I don't think there's any... I mean, look, to be honest with you, Witherspoons, it's got to be the Dionne Waiters Hall of Fame. Like, it's way up there. You could make an argument that it's the most memorable scene of the entire movie, And it really, like, it, like to me, when I would go back, there were times when I would watch, I would just be, pull up that scene and watch it.

Like, it's, it's by far, by far to me. We change the subject. No, Marcus, I hear a girl, dog, we got your pussy whip. Why don't you? Refirst it. Don't be pussy whip. Whip that pussy. Look.

We've had the Dan Waiters Award for 140 movies. I could honestly be talked in. to calling this the John Witherspoon Award. I think it's the all-time Deanne Waiters. It's the all-time heat check of any movie we've ever done where he's in the movie for nine minutes.

He puts up 29 points. He has 10 degrees. He demolishes everybody. He swings the score. It's unbelievable. You'll be telling your grandkids about it. I just don't know if you can do better than this. He's in the movie for nine minutes.

Right. I think you've got to. keep it Dionne Waiters just to like for Dion Wader's sake. Well, I think the answer is to have a first, we were talking when we got to 150 rewatchables, having the rewatches for the, uh, the first, the Hall of Fame, the first class of Hall of Famers. And I think that's probably the answer with Deion Writers is Witherspoon getting his just due as an all-time Dion Writers.

So anyway, he went. Yeah, that's a no brainer. The recasting couch where we could recast. any part in this movie. I got to be honest, I love the casting in this movie. I wouldn't change anything. I'm sure Wesley has a nitpick, though.

Go ahead. I'm not going to nitpick, but here's a casting what if slash, well, just a casting what if. Plus, I watched this movie, and I never thought about this before. But, well, okay,

so just think about all of the people in this movie. They really didn't, at that level, like everybody below Eddie Murphy, they didn't really miss anybody. There's nobody like where you're just like, well, they, I can't believe, I wonder if XYZ was, they got everybody.

But I watched this movie and I actually think that Whitney Houston would have killed in this movie. As the Robert Givens character. I don't know what she would have done, but I think she would, they, I mean, again,

she would have been really comfortable in this environment. I think that she, She would have been, like, she could have been Stranger. She could, I mean, you could have challenged her to be something interesting. I don't know. I don't know. But I really think Whitney Houston, this movie just felt like it needed Whitney Houston.

And I don't know why. It's funny. Number one, it's funny that she was way more Strangay than we thought she was Strangay at that time. Like, we didn't even know how much strong J she actually was. Like, we didn't. But it's weird that as soon as you said that, like I saw her in it.

It now feels like Whitney Houston is in the movie. She's not. But like, as soon as you said that, I'm like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So I guess she could have played, she could play Strangay or she could have played Lila Rashon's character, right? If you just wanted to speak her in. She was one of the biggest stars in the world. It's going to be a lot to ask her to do that.

You'd have to give her something else to do. The bodyguard, I think, is that November, right? Or is it 93? So basically you're giving her Hallie Barry's part then. Because I don't think she can be givens. I don't think she works there. I don't want to mess with history like that. So we need a third character.

We need a new character. Now this movie's got to be three hours. Martin's girlfriend. Martin's girlfriend. I was about to say, write somebody for Martin. Oh, that's interesting. It's like two scenes,

and she's like a new, like she wants to be a singer or something. She's a nightclub singer. Yeah. Yeah. They go to see her sing and the thing and don't blow this. And she's Millie Jackson. She's not winning.

She sings Millie Jackson songs. That's great. That's a good call. Halfass internet research, Eddie created the idea for the film, took it to Barry Blasstein and David Schepfeld, his guys from S&L who wrote a lot of his stuff with them. Eartha Kitt was the hardest person to cast for the film.

She was offended by the character in the original script. So they had to take some of the tasteless jokes out. I think she was offended by the old. I don't want to fuck that lady's stuff. When I watched it, when I watched it, I was surprised she did it. Yeah.

I was, me too. Yeah, that is, I agree, Van. Well, I think it was worse. There was an extra scene involving Strangay taking off her chain metal dress, ringing off the metal detectors, walking through them naked, shot at Newark Airport. They decided it didn't work. They used it in the perfume commercial. That's why she's naked in the perfume commercial.

Brace Jones, man. Wesie, you only have 20 seconds to react to this, but Hublin said that Jules and Jim was a, an influence on the story arc between the characters, Angela Gerard and Marcus. What? It feels like a heat check by Reginald Hudlin. I don't know.

He said, he said, I saw it when I was a kid, that awkward feeling of two guys. One has a better time with girls and the other. They follow him with the same woman. I remember the agony of watching the emotional stakes of that picture. So there you go. If you're everyone named Jules and Jim affected boomerang. Wow. Totally different.

from Jules and Jim. Yeah. And then Lila Roshan apparently had beautiful feet. Just for the record, they had to uglier feet up, put some makeup and some fake hammer time stuff on it. One of the all-time great screen beauties,

Lila Roshan. Yes. Beautiful woman. Agree. Apex Mountain. Robin Givens. For sure. Mm-hmm.

Has to be. For sure. Yeah. David Allen Greer, I think, has to be. He's in living color at the same time. And I think he's had a good. career, but this is, I think he's in this movie and he's on a hit TV show at the same time.

He's really good in this movie, though. I would never have been able to appreciate what he's bringing to this film and like watching it as a grown man who is paying attention in a different way. He's so wonderful in every scene he has. He's present in a different way than Eddie Murphy is. Yeah. Yeah. He's such a fantastic performer.

Like, you wonder, and he went on to do something like Jumangi and stuff like, but you wonder like. Why? We keep asking this question. But like, yeah, he's so good in this and he's so real and so human, yet still so funny. It's like a level you didn't think he's just great. And you just wonder why he never, it was never recreated. You know, he's still having a great career, but why it was never recreated on screen to this level again.

It's funny because I meant to put this in what stage the best because I'm the same way. I love him in this movie. I think he's really, really good and just so fucking likable. And I just think he's likable in general. like he's a legendary talk shows guests like right like if kim will know is like oh we need somebody two thursdays from now let's get dag he'll he'll kill um it's funny the all the seeds that you see of him in this movie and the same for martin lawrence but then martin lawrence propels it into like four things right he's got his tv show he's got bad boys like it just

kind of keeps going and you can see all the seeds of it in this movie but you can also see the seeds with Dag and it's like, I don't, I don't know why it didn't happen other than all the reasons we've already discussed. He's so fucking likable. Yeah, he just, I don't get it. I think that he has the misfortune of having gone first in a lot of places. Like, he had Key and Peel show before Keen Peel. Yeah. He did. Right. And he, he's just unlucky. Like, he's, there's either somebody more outrageously funny than he is, or he comes after Chappelle and nobody was. He was really ready for like what I can only describe as like middle class black comedy. I think that, you know, he isn't a star person and he's a character actor if he's a character,

if he's an actor, you know, if he considers himself like a serious actor at all. He's a tweener because he can't like be the lead guy in the poster, but he's too good to be like, you know, the buddy. Right. But nonetheless, he, he does something that I'm like, he does something that I. a lot of actors don't do, which he adds to every single production that he's in. Yes. Every single, like a lot of actors cannot say that.

Some of them are on these screens, taking up space. But he adds to every single. He's just an incredibly talented guy. Like, he really is, man. And he's had a great career, by the way. He's had a great career. I rarely say stuff like this because it's obnoxious. But he's a fucking awesome guy because he's in that whole Kimball universe.

and he's exactly like he is like you would think he is to hang out with. Just like really a great guy. I really like him. Hey, we're going to take a break for two reasons. One, I wanted to tell you about a podcast called Higher Learning

with Van Lathen and Rachel Lindsay that we are launching on late Wednesday night. And they're talking about anything and everything, pop culture, sports, urban culture, you name it. It's going to be happening. You can subscribe to the feet.

on Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts starting on Tuesday morning. Higher Learning with Van Lathen and Rachel Lindsay. Really excited for this podcast. Check it out. More importantly, we got someone to this boomerang podcast, and this is the first time this has ever happened of the history of the rewatchables. I actually forgot to finish a category. Once we stopped talking about David Allen Greer, I moved on and forgot to finish Apex Mountains.

So Wesley and Van and I, we went through some of the other ones retroactively. So this is a little back to the future model here. The biggest thing, boys to men, absolutely yes. Apex Mountain for boys to men. We all decided. Emphatic, yes. Tony Braxton, no. Eddie Murphy, no.

Martin Lawrence, no. Reginald Hudlin, yes. I mean, what a masterpiece, 28 years later. PM Dawn? Yes. Giving it to him too, Apex Mountain. Stranget perfume, absolutely yes. Three guys playing a good.

Game of Pool, which I've never seen in my life other than this movie. I think it was the Apex Mount for that. The 1992 Knicks, no. Chitlins, no. Black rom-coms. Wesley says yes, he thought the only thing close is the best man. Van could not decide. And I'm going to say semi-yes. It's the best black-themed sex comedy ever. I'm not sure of best rom-com. I need to put more thought into that. There you go. Apex Mountain. My apology is to Boys to Men because I feel like all of us were robbed a really good five-minute conversation about the boys to men Apex. But hey, it happens when you have a two-hour re-watchables. Let's go back to it. The re-watchables with me, Van, and Wesley. Here we go. Picking Nits. We mentioned a lot of the picking nits. Here's the only one that really bugs me. Angela really moves in fast with Marcus. They're watching Star Trek and hooking up. And next thing you know, like all her stuff's there. Like it's abrupt And I don't know this movie From a concept of time

Because at some point then they break up And they say how four months is past And she has this new job That already has a new perfume out And Marcus doesn't have a job anymore But that's only four months But then you figure she moves in in five seconds But then there's a whole year leading up to that

And I don't know How many years this movie is supposed to cover but you would think it's at least three. There is a three hour cut of this movie. I'm telling you. Hmm. There's a three hour for it. I think it went.

I'm in it. It flows by the two hours it's at now and link this podcast. Best quote. I'm going with love should have brought your ass home last night. What do you possibly think you know about love? You know, I'm sick and tired of men using love like it's some kind of disease you just catch.

Love should have brought your ass home last night. Only because then it becomes a song. It's when you have the combo of, it's always good when they work the title into the movie. Like, say anything, which we're doing for this week. They worked the title of the movie. This, they work a line that becomes a memorable song into the movie, which I think high degree of difficulty for that.

You're wrong, by the way. The quote of the, you're wrong. Give it to me. Okay, it's easily, don't get pussy whipped. whip that pussy. Well, we covered that one, that we said that one, Ernie. So, that's the quote of the movie.

Do you think anyone ever used that as a senior year book quote or no? I want to say, I've got, the line that really stuck in my brain, though, all these years is, I'm giving you my Mac Daddy vibes here.

Right. I'm giving it, like, check it. Yo, check it. Right. Stop. You know I didn't come up here to talk. You got no stront, Jay. I came up here to talk to you about us.

I'm rapping. This is my Mac Daddy vibe I'm giving you. And all of it's splendor. What's up? Oh, really? Yes. I'm the Alleghenza Magdaddy of the month. Oh, I see.

Well, let me get a good luck. He was really in Eddie Murphy getting to speak 90 slang. It just was like, he seemed so thrilled to be able to connect to the way, like, people seven years younger. than he was, we're talking. It just, I don't know. I just found that, I found that so funny now as an adult person. Next category is, could this be remade as a 10-episode Netflix show?

Well, they just remade it as a BET show. So the answer is, yes, it can. But should it? Well, could they have done a better version of it? I don't know. Hallie, Executive Preach said, I'm going to say anything bad. Probably an answerable questions. How is Keith Sweat not on the soundtrack?

That's my first one. It's the time. It's the era. I don't know what he did. I have an answer for you. Okay. The answer is that Babyface did this, right? Yep.

Keith Sweat was really a new jack swing artist. Teddy, Teddy, right? Well, but you know, I've had a lot of conversations about this. It's funny that, okay, I don't know. This isn't really an answer, but, like, baby face, there is some debate between Teddy and Babyface and Jimmy and Terry about and with like a smidge of Dallas Austin about who

who really who that music really belongs to like who. New Jack Swink? I know we all think it's Teddy. Whoa! I know we all think it's Teddy but I'm just saying that's a great answer band. I'm with you. I would

have said that he belongs to Teddy Riley. That would have been my answer. Yeah. I don't know. That's a whole different podcast. Like that was, that's spicy. That's a whole different podcast. You want to talk about some verses. Right.

Yeah. That's a whole different podcast. But basically, yeah, that's not what I was saying like, you know, baby face did this kind of, and Keith Sweat was a little bit in order on the New Jack swing vibe. So that's probably why you didn't see him on the soundtrack. Well, that leads me to my second question. Why is it Charday on this, on this, on this, on this, on this soundtrack. Chade.

Chade. Chade. Chade. Shardet. Well, I'd say Charday. I did the Boston's pronunciation. Lots of people, you might be, because you're showing your black bill. Charday.

Charday. But this was peak Chadee. Peak. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, the P.M. Dawn song is. Is a Shadee song, basically. Is a Chadee song, basically. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

I would have brought Chadee or Keith Sweat in there for one of the sex scenes, just because those were the soundtracks for Most of the sex going out of the early 90s, along with Enigma and Enya. More in answerable questions. What do you think Robin Givens' character said to undermine Marcus in the office after they broke up, where he becomes this big laughing stock

after they've had sex? What exactly is unfolding there? She told him what he did when he came and that he cried like a baby and sucked his thumb. I thought about this. You think that's what it was? She told the rest of the girls in the office that he had the orgasm. He cried like a baby.

He sucked this thumb. He asked for his mom. And that's what they were laughing at. So she was saying he was great in bed, but this funny thing happened. But this funny thing happened. Do you guys know that like when he comes, he sucks on his thumb and like asked for his mother and wanted to be held? Like the whole nine, like she told him that. And it changed their, it fundamentally changed their opinion.

Marcus Grant. So do you think you should have had one of the ladies in the office, suck their thumb and start laughing and walk away? Missed opportunity. Yeah. I agree. Givens does this to Marcus and Mike Tyson. Do you think they thought of her in this movie because she basically took Mike Tyson's mojo too? And they were like, well, who do we get? Who's the clearest example of somebody who just took someone's mojo? We'll get Robin Gibbons. It's got to be related. Kippe be an accident. For sure. He's fumbling for his mouthpiece in Tokyo two years after they break up. The biggest dragon lady we can find.

Yeah, I guess so. Any unanswerable questions for you before we go to who won the movie? No. All right. Who won the movie? Van Lathen, who won the movie? Hallie did. Oh.

Wow. Really? Yeah. Now, that's, you're just sucking up to Hallie in case she's listening. I know we're up to it. You want to be. You had to be her third, her third husband. Three, we're past three, are we not?

Fourth husband. Justice, Martinez, oh, I guess it would be three. What about the other guy, Gabrielle Aubrey? Did they like, so I think she was on three. Well, she was with the guy from Unfaithful, remember? That guy, the French guy. Yeah, he named him. That's Martinez.

Yeah, and then she was with some Dennis do, some other guys. Some, yeah, so. I love it there is like. I was enjoyed that. There's a fight between two of them. I love. It was Gabriel Aubrey and Oliveri Martinez, and he beat the dog shit. Olivero Martinez comes, though, he's a pretty face, but he comes from a family of

like Argentine boxers or something like that. And he whipped his ass. Yeah. Tore his ass up on Thanksgiving Day. Beat the trash out of him. What happened? I don't even know about this. Yeah, there's a big, it was a baby daddy fight.

Oh, baby daddy fight. Like Olivier Martinez, we covered it. Olivier Martinez pulled up, excuse me, Gabelah Aubrey pulled up on Thanksgiving. or something like that. And Olivier was there and he just lost it on him and beat these shit out of him. He's a boxer.

He can fight for real. Wesley, you don't follow Baby Daddy fights on Twitter? I, you know, people's personal lives do not interest me. I mean, I just don't want to know too much because the more you know,

the more you know, I just, I don't know. All right, so Van says Hallie won the movie. What do you think, Wesley? I'm glad he said that. I'm going to go with Hall. I'm going to go with Eddie Murphy because Eddie Murphy won the movie.

I think the movie changes his... I mean, he had to... I mean, I don't know how much fighting to do it he had to do, but, like, he really had to be present for its making in a way that he... that would have been kind of new for him. I think it liberates him to go other more interesting places, even if they didn't always work.

I think his... It sort of reinvested his interest in black familyhood and black culture, like on screen, like the depiction of black life and whatever we mean by a black experience. It was more present in his movies after this movie than it was previously. And he's just really good. Like, this is just a really good comedic performance. It has a lot of tenderness and a lot of vulnerability.

and also a lot of purpose. Like, he understands who this guy is, and this guy is not Eddie Murphy. Like, he is, Marcus is a character for him to play. And he's just really wonderful in it. I also have Eddie winning the movie. And I don't know if it's his best performance ever. But I think it's his best adult performance

because I look at the icons, 48 hours, training places, Beverly Copcom. in America. He's still pretty young in those movies. You know, like he's... And possibly young. He's like 21, 22 when he makes 48 hours.

He's 24 when he makes Beverly's cop. He's like a grown-ass adult man and boomerang. And I think this is the best... He uses all the pieces. And I think they get the most out of him. And I think he makes the most people better in the movie, too, which we discussed earlier. So I'm going on.

The reason why I think is Hallie real quick. I'm sorry, tell you to cut you off. Go ahead. The reason why I think... us Hallie real quick is because, number one, she's a hit and star of this movie. At the end of the, at the end of the movie, it's her love story, right? It's the stickiest role that she had had to that day. And when I say stickiest, I mean, like a lot of the other roles that we're going to see Halliberry have really before then and really after then, with the possible exception of jungle fever, are kind of empty calories. I feel like in a lot of ways, her reputation to a large segment of people was buoyed by this movie and it lasted for a long time. We didn't really get another sticky Halle Berry role for a second. So even though it took her a long time to march to the A list,

I don't feel like she has the opportunity to get there unless she delivers in this film. Well, remember, don't be pussy whipped. Whip that pussy, Boomerang, 28 years old, amazingly. I can't believe this movie's 28 years old. I feel like it's been in it my entire life. an all-timer for me. I just love it. Van Lath and Wesleyan Morris,

thanks so much. I love talking about this with you guys. See you guys. All right, that's it for the rewatchables. Coming up next will be Fletch. It's finally happening. After a lot of rumors. Fletch.

Yeah. Can I borrow your towel? I think my car just said a water buffalo. See you next time.