Review of Coming to America, directed by John Landis

When my laptop was at the shop and I was forced to rely on my iPad for an entire torturous week—which I do not recommend as a graduate student if you’re not used to only relying on an iPad, I was really suffering—I ended up watching and reading so much more than I usually do.

I was having the time of my life without a computer, as I wasn’t forcing myself to do things for work. I was actually relaxing and enjoying my life. I was watching Bombshell and The Wiz, then I after I finished those the next on my recommended list was Coming to America.

I had never heard of this movie before, but I was sold on the synposis that Netflix had provided. I’m a sucker for movies, shows, and books that are set in New York City, especially if it’s old school New York.

Also the fact this is a John Landis movie is what sold me on the content, as I didn’t have to think hard about pressing play on this boring September night.

Anyways, I’ve rambled enough. Onwards with the review!

An African prince comes to America in search of independence.

Coming to America begins in the country of Zamunda, where its prince, Akeem, is treated like he cannot do anything by himself. He can’t bathe without someone else doing for it, he cannot eat his own food, and three women have to throw roses at his feet wherever he walks.

He’s very much sick of everything to do with this, but when he’s given a bride-to-be that literally will only follow his orders, that’s the last straw for Akeem. With his personal aide, Semmi, he convinces his parents to let him go to New York City.

Upon arriving, the two end up at a shady apartment building, where all of their luggage is promptly looted by the people on the streets. Akeem is excited by it, despite the place literally being a dump and a potential crime scene, and they decide to live there.

He wants the authentic experience of hardship, so they decide to disguise themselves as poor exchange students from Africa.

They somehow end up at a charity event for the neighborhood, where Akeem spots the beautiful daughter of a local entrepreneur who owns a McDonalds knock called McDowell’s.

Akeem decides he needs to win over Lisa’s heart after seeing her at the event, and Semmi and he begin working there while posing as poor African students. However, Lisa has a boyfriend named Darryl, who has just announced their engagement without her consent.

In the meantime, Akeem tells Lisa that he is in the son of goat herders, and he begins to appreciate the hard work he has to do in order to make his money. Semmi, on the other hand, does not like this lifestyle and yearns to go back to their country.

He purchases a hot tub and other fancy gadgets for their tiny apartment, which Akeem discovers when he tries to take Lisa on a date.

He then makes the impulsive decision to give all of his money to two random homeless men while on this date, forcing Semmi to beg Akeem’s parents for more money.

Akeem’s parents come to NYC, where they then try to find him. Lisa’s dad, who originally disapproved of Akeem because of how poor he is, tries to slide into this royalty and their sudden wealth in his house.

Akeem’s parents find him when he’s with Lisa, and she naturally becomes upset at the fact he hid something this major from her. She leaves, Akeem prepares to go home, but when he walks down the aisle on his wedding day, there Lisa is underneath the veil.

Overall Thoughts

This is such an interesting movie to watch, especially because now that I’ve thought about it, I’ve never seen a movie besides Mulan with Eddie Murphy in it. I thought the comedy wasn’t the greatest at times for my sense of humor, but I can see how other people would really enjoy a movie like this.

All in all, I’m really glad I watched this because it expanded the kind of films I’ve been watching lately—I think I want to go and watch more Black-led films from the eighties, as the ones I’ve been watching from the seventies and sixties lately are definitely been pretty good, although they’ve never come up on my radar until now.

I do think there’s some elements of analysis in this one though about depictions of Africans for sure, but that’s not my place to really write about—I’m not well-versed in the subject, but I would like to read more.

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