They're not just getting rich... They're getting even.
Overview
A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.8/10
IMDb: 7.5/10
Letterboxd: 3.62/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 69
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
John Landis
Production
Cinema Group Ventures, Paramount Pictures
Cast
Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, Jamie Lee Curtis, Paul Gleason, Frank Oz, Jim Belushi, Kristin Holby, Alfred Drake, Bo Diddley, Al Franken, Tom Davis, Maurice Woods, Richard D. Fisher, Jr., Anthony DiSabatino, Bonnie Behrend, Sunnie Merrill, James Newell
Where to watch
Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, AMC+, Philo
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, very rewatchable 80s comedy that blends broad farce with pointed class and race satire. It’s funniest when it leans into Eddie Murphy’s charisma and the sheer absurdity of the premise, even if some of the humor and social attitudes are dated.
Best for
fans of high-energy studio comedies
viewers who like class-swap or con-artist stories
people interested in 80s satire with mainstream appeal
rewatchers who enjoy quotable ensemble comedies
Skip if
you’re sensitive to outdated racial and sexual humor
you want a tightly plotted or emotionally sincere comedy
you dislike mean-spirited rich-vs-poor setups
you prefer modern pacing and cleaner social politics
Overview
Trading Places is one of those big studio comedies that still feels alive because it has a real engine: a cruel social experiment, a great comic duo, and a city-sized sense of hustle. The movie keeps finding new ways to turn status into spectacle, whether it’s the boardroom, the brokerage floor, or the humiliation of being dropped into someone else’s life.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the balance between slapstick and social bite. Eddie Murphy is electric, Dan Aykroyd is gloriously unraveling, and the film knows how to turn a simple reversal premise into a cascade of set pieces. It’s also very much a product of its era, which means some jokes land with a thud now, but the movie’s appetite for class critique is stronger than its reputation suggests.
Bottom line
If you want an 80s comedy that’s both crowd-pleasing and a little venomous, this is a prime example. It’s messy, fast, and often very funny, with enough bite to explain why it’s still discussed as more than just a holiday rerun.
Top Letterboxd reviews
lauren (5★) · 2408 likes
I’ve seen this film about 50 times and I still don’t understand how the trading pit works
Sean Fennessey (4.5★) · 1953 likes
**Eddie Murphy looks into camera as Mortimer explains that pork bellies are used to make bacon, which is found on a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich**
matt lynch (4.5★) · 1117 likes
"Here. One dollar."
Class and race and gender and labor and no matter how many times I see this it's one of the greatest American comedies ever made.
Jamelle Bouie (4★) · 735 likes
probably the great american comedy about race and class and labor? there’s some problematic stuff in here of course but i actually don’t think it’s too bad all things considered.
demi adejuyigbe · 491 likes
Deeply, deeply mean-spirited and undercooked in a way that made me feel bad from its comically-evil set up until its unearned con of an ending. Merry Christmas!