Boomerang - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Boomerang



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As a huge Eddie Murphy fan I’m embarrassed to say that I have never watched Boomerang. I have no idea why, I have no recollection of ever not being interested. I guess when given the chance it just never was on my rotation enough to check it out. And this coming from the guy who actually went to go see Pluto Nash in the theaters. Well, now that Paramount has finally decided to give the film it’s first domestic Blu-ray release I figure it’s time to remedy that situation. So this review will be completely blind, completely virgin, and the first time I’ve ever had time to review an Eddie Murphy classic without having seen it a million times on cable first.

After nailing it out of the park with SNL, Murphy became a smash comedy hit overnight with films like 48 Hrs, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America and several more. Then in the late 80s and early 90s Murphy decided he wanted to branch out into other genres with films like Harlem Nights and Boomerang. Boomerang takes the veneer of many a comedy. A misogynistic playa at the height of his game getting the rug pulled out from under him. In What a Woman Wants it was Mel Gibson LITERALLY being able to know what a woman was thinking. In this case it’s role reversals.

Eddie Murphy is Marcus, a high brow magazine marketing director who has played the field like a pro. He can love em, bag em, and then leave em like the best of the best. No woman is safe from his charms, and the silver tongued devil can worm his way under even the hardest barriers a woman can put up. That is until his company is merged with Eloise cosmetics (Eloise herself being played by Eartha Kitt herself, of whom most of us millennials know as Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove) and he’s playing second fiddle to the Eloise LLC marketing director Jacqueline (Robin Givens).

While most films tend to portray the man as the predator and the woman as the prey (or at least, the man is the assertive one and the woman is more submissive in being allowed to be chased), Boomerang switches the tables dramatically. Jacqueline is an apex predator like Marcus is, and plays every game as well as he does. Suddenly Marcus is in over his head when he realizes that she’s playing him and he’s falling in love with her. To make matters worse, his new assistant Angela (26 year old baby faced Halle Berry) is the polar opposite of everything he and Jacqueline try to be. She’s sweet, she’s kind, and she has a genuine heart. Before long Marcus has to choose what type of lifestyle he wants to continue to lead, and maybe, just maybe, learn what it is like to be on the other end of the players board.

Boomerang was much different than what I was expecting. I was used to Eddie’s slapstick comedies and action comedies from the 80s, and while Boomerang definitely has a lot of comedic moments, it’s more of a dramedy. There’s plenty of background comedy characters like Martin Lawrence and David Alan Grier as his best friends. Chris Rock as the mail boy, and John Witherspoon of Friday fame making an appearance. However, the heart of the story is really a black comedy of pain and errors. Eddie does really well as the mack daddy type of guy who’s brought to his knees, and Halle Berry is sweet as can be. Robin Givens is merciless as Jacqueline though, and this makes for some of the most poignant moments as you can literally see the script pointing out the double standard that men and women play by in many ways. There’s a scene where Jacqueline and Marcus have been together and lovestruck Marcus yells out “call me!”, while Jacqueline calmly leaves him $200 on the nightstand leaving Marcus feeling like he was hit in the gut. It’s a little over the top, but just goes to show how used and taken advantage of he was in this situation.

Grace Jones as the eccentric model gone crazy is by far my favorite parts, as she hammed it up to level 15 out of 10. However, my one complaint is about the ending. It goes for that classic “yeah I cheated, but I’m better now babe!” ending that just feels so hollow. I really feel like a few more minutes clarifying how Marcus got his life together would have been more impactful than just stating “yeah babe, I’m good now, trust me” does. It’s not the end of the world, but it makes the film feel less serious and more like your average rom-com.




Rating:

Rated R for language and sexuality




Video:

Boomerang is (if I’m a guessing man) from an older master rather than a brand new 4K one. Which would also explain why Paramount didn’t put it in the Paramount Presents line of catalog releases. It’s definitely a solid transfer, with very little print damage, strong colors, and good detail levels. The downsides seem to be that it’s excessively grainy to the point of noise, and when grain spikes hit faces things are obviously a bit smeary. I don’t think it’s been DNR’d to death like man a Universal and Paramount early days transfer, it’s just not super duper detailed. The white levels are also boosted, giving everything a slightly washed out look, especially in dark scenes. Still, there are many scenes where colors pop off the screen and I’m marveling at the detail levels. So as I said, very solid, but definitely an older master.







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix is a good bit more excitable though. Dialog is crisp and clean with a forward focus for much of the runtime, but the 90s songs blast through with incredible alacrity, and the city soundscape is really immersive when Marcus is going about town. Bass is punchy and tight, more there to accentuate the music than anything, but still very pleasant and well done. It’s a solid dramatic comedy mix, and while it’s not going to shock and awe you, it is technically well done, with no signs of degradation of clarity issues.












Extras:

• Commentary by director Reginald Hudlin
• Extended and deleted scenes with director's commentary:
-- Thanksgiving at Marcus' Place
-- Strangé's Arrival at the Dinner
-- Bony T Asks Marcus About Sex with Jackie
-- First Dinner Between Jackie & Marcus
-- Dinner Between Gerard & Angela

Final Score: ​

Boomerang is a fun bit of Eddie Murphy that I had never seen before, and I really enjoyed my first time watching it. The movie feels very VERY 90s, but does play at the role reversal element quite nicely. Eddie gets several moments where you truly believe that he feels used and abused by the same tactics that he employed for years. Sometimes the comparisons are a bit over the top, but all in all it’s a fun movie and a solid Blu-ray release by Paramaount


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Halle Berry, Robin Givens, David Alan Grier, Grace Jones
Directed by:Reginald Hudlin
Written by: Barry W. Blaustein, David Sheffield, Eddie Murphy
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, German, French, Japanese DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French, German, Japanese
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 117 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 28th, 2022

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[Epoxy1]

Totally agree Michael. Not a typical Murphy movie, but it still is a lot of fun.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I remember seeing this long time ago. Will check it out again.