Eddie Murphy Raw (1987)

Some things I liked some I did not.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Okay, yes, it's rated R but 230 F words is unneeded.About 40 of them are from a routine about Eddie's abusive father. How is child abuse funny? I have only seen about 10 or so minutes of this movie but I don't won't to finish it. I do give it a one because of the opening scene and the rabbit/bear joke at the end but that's it. This is the same guy who made Coming To America the next year, that's my favorite Murphy movie. Mulan, Shrek 1-4, Daddy Day Care, Norbit, and a few other movies are way better than this. I don't always hate profanity-laced movie-I think The Departed earned the Oscar, but one guy saying it in a 75ish minute time period 200+ times is uncalled for. Skip this and Harlem Nights and pick a different movie of his.

What you're saying is partially arguable because apart from the filming and body language he did quite well on this one. I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than Delirious because the focus on both episodes are on different things. Delirious was very diverse and he kept talking about singers, actors and what not. In Raw however he's more focused on relationship and sex, while that may come of as redundant at times is not a big deal here.Nevertheless, whether he has grown a little more in Raw is obviously a natural course by nature and shouldn't be counted against his performance. Take it from me you should really be thinking about two things when deciding on which one you should watch first! The first one is what kind of subject you're interested in, actors and singers or sex and relationships? The second deals with your own personality as the vocabulary is more vulgar in Raw.Last thing to note here is that both are extremely offensive at times and sensitive people should really be thinking twice before watching either...

Except for the beginning where you see some Thanksgiving of 1968 where a child is telling a joke (I only saw that once because now I always fast forward to the show). It's a great gift to hear Eddie talk about various stuff and often his physiognomy is especially funny.. He talks about women who nowadays.. (he refers of course to the 80ties (but it's still true) get "half" of what you own if the marriage breaks up. He starts this joke with seeing Johnny Carson on the front page of the Enquirer looking very unhappy and then talking about switching to the story where you see a picture of her wife which he is also mimicking.. getting half of Johnny's 300 million.. And the he keeps talking about relationships in general and how to handle them (some very usable information), about a call from Bill Cosby about Italians after they saw Rocky.. and so on.. If you are not offended by the very adult language this Show is a must see DVD.. And for those who don't speak English that well there are subtitles included.. which you sometimes even can use if your English is good, because sometimes he mumbles a bit.. But go out and buy it.. or at least rent it.. And a little hint to to companies: Release 'Delirious' on DVD. Finally... But as I said.. send the Children to bed first..

Eddie Murphy at his peak in Hollywood had a great deal with the studios, after the money made off of 48 Hours and Trading Places, barely disappointed. This 1987 special is one prominent example. One night this came on TV recently and I could not change the channel. I heard rants on celebrities, celebrity life, romantic life (consisting of pretty much a second act in a way), race, etc, and it was in classic Murphy style. I have heard a lot of romance comedy (sex, little things, different kinds of women), but in this film Murphy takes it to another level. Not only does everything seem to be absolutely real, the stories he tells work almost cinematic ally coming full circle from where they started. And a lot of the humor coming in large doses very quickly- sometimes just from facial expressions- is worth the watch even if you're just in it to get the laughs. As this is my first Eddie Murphy stand-up special (a long-time admirer of his SNL & old-school movie work) I was caught off guard perhaps- I knew his stand-up ranked with pretty high, as it was the kind of material that influenced the likes of Chris Rock. But, as with the anything of worth in stand-up, it has to be off and absurd to really hit for the big laughs, and a couple of times it really knocked in. Some of these you might find if you're digging it, but if you're just a casual fan of Murphy much of the topics he touches on will hit somewhere at you. Not to mention two specific bits (a phone call with Bill Cosby, and a bit around the perfect wife) are as close to genius as the barbershop scenes in Coming to America. If you haven't seen either special I can't say which one to start with, however whatever combustible forces raged round in the late 80's with Murphy (before he seemed to abandon stand-up for acting) are displayed through a natural, usually hysterical performance. And in the moments that aren't big with laughs at the least held my interest. GRADE: A