Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987)

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

Director:

Robert Townsend

Writers:

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

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Tatyana Ali, Billie Allen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Self
Tatyana Ali	...	Singing Child (sketch)
Billie Allen	...	Eddie's Aunt (sketch)
Clebert Ford	...	Uncle Lester (sketch)
Geri Gibson	...	Card Player #2 (sketch)
Birdie M. Hale	...	Aunt Rose (sketch)
Tiger Haynes	...	Card Player #3 (sketch)
Leonard Jackson	...	Uncle Gus (sketch)
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Eddie's Uncle (sketch)
Jody Jones	...	Eddie's Cousin (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)

Storyline

After achieving fame with Saturday Night Live and Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy released a film version of one of his live stand-up performances. He mainly focuses on the topics of divorce and relations between the sexes, but also goes into some of the problems he's encountered because of fame, including offended listeners and fans who continually greet him with his unprintable catch phrases.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to bill cosby | stand up | sex | stand up special | shock humor | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Documentary | Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eddie mentions going to Africa (named Zimfufu riding buck naked on a horse) to find a wife. In "Coming to America (1988)" he does the opposite: His character lives in Africa and comes to America to find a wife.

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Goofs

When Murphy does his bit about Johnny Carson's divorce settlement with third wife Joanna Holland, he states that they were married for ten years. It was actually thirteen.

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Quotes

Eddie Murphy: [imitating Richard Pryor] You ever get like sometimes ye get on that toilet and ye shit, that water splash up on yo' ass? Don't that make ye mad, right? You know what really make mad is when the shit is halfway out, then go back up in that mothafocka. Why do shit be teasin' yo' ass? Just get the fuck out, right? You know what really make me mad is when yo' ass don' cooperate whicha then clinch up and break the shit in half? You be mad like a motherfucker too coz you gotta whip yo' ass for 5 ...

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a '18' rating. All cuts were waived in 1988 when the film was granted a '18' certificate for home video.

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Connections

Referenced in The Siskel & Ebert 500th Anniversary Special (1989)

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Soundtracks

Nothing From Nothing
Written by Billy Preston & Bruce Fisher

User Reviews

Alltime greats

This movie came out late 1987, and people were dying for a sequel to "Delirious" which was 1983. If you go back and watch Richard Pryor's "live in Concert" or "Here and Now" you see that Eddie used some of Pryor's stuff, but gave it its own shot of himself (In delirious, Murphy does the "bARBQ scene/story" and he describes his aunt falling down the steps. It is the exact same description Pryor does in "Live in Concert" when he describes black women at funerals.) RAW used all the things that made Eddie Murphy famous; his deadon imitations, and his gift for telling stories. I can't even watch Martin Lawrence, DL Hughely, Cedric the Entertainer and a few others without noticing Eddie Murphy's influences right away. People forget how big he was, and how good- wayyy before he started doing bad talking animal movies. There are some debates over which was better Raw or Delirious....they are both hilarious, but you can tell the mindset was much different only 4 years later. In RAW, Murphy compares himself to Johnny Carson, while in Delirious he was just the most popular guy on Saturday Night Live. RAW is one of the best and funniest concert comedies ever, and I dare someone not to laugh out loud when watching it......NOTE: This movie was reviewed in 1987 when it came out by Siskel and Ebert "AT The Movies", which was when they were getting really popular in syndication, and it spurred one of the best on-air disagreements between the two EVER. Siskel likened RAW, and Eddie Murphy overall, as being as funny (or funnier)and outrageous as Pryor, Carlin or Lenny Bruce. He loved the movie. Ebert despised it, and chastised Siskel for being "immature" and he also felt that Murphy's attitudes toward women were patronizing, damaging and even went so far as to call RAW a "pale imitation of a good comedienne". I thought Ebert was nuts at the time, and now that Siskel is dead, I can't find any review of RAW on Ebert's website. I've emailed him numerous times about it, trying to figure out why a movie that was so popular, and not even that long ago, would not be in his database. Does anyone else thinks that sounds fishy?

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Raw

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,077,324, 20 December 1987

Gross USA:

$50,504,655

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$50,504,655

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eddie Murphy Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1