Eddie Murphy Raw (1987)

Director:

Robert Townsend

Writers:

Eddie Murphy (stand-up material)
Eddie Murphy (opening sketch) ...

Release Date:

18 December 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

WARNING! You may be offended if you're black, white, male, female, rich or poor, Bill Cosby, Mr. T or Richard Pryor.

Plot:

Eddie Murphy in a stand-up performance recorded live. For an hour and a half he talks about his favourite subjects: sex and women.

Plot Keywords:

Janet Jackson | Bill Cosby | Madonna | Richard Pryor | Stand Up Comedy

Cast

Eddie Murphy	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tatyana Ali	...	Eddie's sister (sketch)
Billie Allen	...	Eddie's aunt (sketch)
James Brown III	...	Thanksgiving Guest (sketch)
Eyde Byrde	...	Mrs. Butts (sketch) (as Edye Byrde)
Michelle Davison	...	Thanksgiving Guest (sketch)
Clebert Ford	...	Uncle Lester (sketch)
Geri Gibson	...	Card Player #2 (sketch)
Birdie M. Hale	...	Aunt Rose (sketch)
J.D. Hall	...	Party Guest (sketch)
Tiger Haynes	...	Card Player #3 (sketch)
Barbara Iley	...	Thanksgiving Guest (sketch)
Leonard Jackson	...	Uncle Gus (sketch)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Eddie's uncle (sketch)
Jody Jones	...	Eddie's Cousin (sketch)
John Lafayette	...	Thanksgiving Guest (sketch)
Davenia McFadden	...	Eddie's Aunt (sketch)
Gwen McGee	...	Eddie's mother (sketch)
Lex Monson	...	Card Player #4 (sketch)
Warren Morris	...	Poetry Reader (sketch)
Deon Richmond	...	Little Eddie (sketch)
Basil Wallace	...	Eddie's Father (sketch)
Damien Dante Wayans	...	Child Running in the house (sketch) (as Damien Wayans)
Ellis Williams	...	Eddie's uncle (sketch)
Carol Woods	...	Eddie's Aunt (sketch)

Also Known As:

Raw (USA) (short title)
Raw: The Concert Movie (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R | UK:15 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:15 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden - 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Eddie Murphy Productions

Trivia:

The only film to receive a 16 rating in Iceland due entirely to language.

Quotes:

Eddie Murphy: [imitating his father who is singing Motown songs but messing up the lyrics] If I have to beg and plead to the symphony...
["If I have to beg and plead for your sympathy"]

Movie Connections:

References 48 Hrs. (1982)

Soundtrack:

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

Tell Bill I said have a Coke and a smile and shut the @#$* up!

This is not quite as funny as Delirious, but nothing could be. However, it is still is one of the funniest stand-ups around. The first half an hour is on par with his previous stand-up. The first half an hour he does impressions of some of the same people he did impressions of in DELIRIOUS. This includes Michael Jackson and Mr. T again. He also does impressions of what I can only surmise has to be a real life phone call from Bill Cosby. This is one of the funniest parts of the show as his voice and idiosyncrisies of Bill are right on. His ensuing conversation with Richard Pryor is also quite funny.

There is also some great bits in here about women, dating, and marriage. And while many people have claimed that Eddie is nothing but a misogynist with his rantings now, it has to be said that there has to be some truth to what he is ranting about.

The show does lack a little near the end but that is okay because the rest of the show is one hilarious skit after the other. He even takes on his parents again and does quite a good job.

Raw is not quite as funny as Delirious but it is a great follow up to his first one.

7 out of 10