The Distinguished Gentleman

The Distinguished Gentleman is a 1992 American political comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. The film was directed by Jonathan Lynn. In addition to Murphy, the film stars Lane Smith, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Joe Don Baker, James Garner, Victoria Rowell, Grant Shaud, Kevin McCarthy, Charles S. Dutton, Victor Rivers, Chi McBride, Sonny Jim Gaines, and Noble Willingham.

The Distinguished Gentleman
Theatrical release poster by Steven Chorney
Directed byJonathan Lynn
Produced byMarty Kaplan
Leonard Goldberg
Michael Peyser
Written byMarty Kaplan
Jonathan Reynolds
Starring
Music byRandy Edelman
CinematographyGabriel Beristain
Edited byBarry B. Leirer
Tony Lombardo
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • December 4, 1992 (1992-12-04)
Running time
112 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million[1]
Box office$46,666,502[2]

The film's plot is centered on politics, specifically what members of Congress and lobbyists do to get what they want in Washington, D.C. This is the first film of Eddie Murphy to not be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Synopsis

A Florida con man named Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Eddie Murphy) uses the passing of the longtime Congressman from his district, Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Johnson (James Garner) (who died of a heart attack while having sex with his secretary), to get elected to the United States Congress as a freshman Congressman, where the money flows from lobbyists. Omitting his first name, and abbreviating his middle name, he calls himself "Jeff" Johnson. He then manages to get on the ballot by pitching a seniors organization, the Silver Foxes, to endorse him.

Once on the election ballot, he uses the dead Congressman's old campaign material and runs a low budget campaign that appeals to name recognition, figuring most people do not pay much attention and simply vote for the "name you know." He wins a slim victory and is off to Washington, a place where the "streets are lined with gold."

Initially, the lucrative donations and campaign contributions roll in, but as he learns the nature of the con game in Washington D.C., he starts to see how the greed and corruption makes it difficult to address issues such as campaign finance reform, environmental protection, and the possibility that electric power companies may have a product that is giving kids in a small town cancer.

In trying to address these issues, Congressman Johnson finds himself double-crossed by the Chairman of the Committee on Power and Industry, Rep. Dick Dodge (Lane Smith). Johnson decides to fight back the only way he knows how: with a con. Johnson succeeds and exposes Dodge as corrupt. As the film ends, it appears likely that Johnson will be thrown out of Congress for the manner in which he was elected, but he defiantly declares, "I'm gonna run for President!" then breaking the fourth wall.

Cast

Production

Eddie Murphy appeared in this Disney-produced film after a string of Paramount Pictures star vehicles.[3] Bernie Weinraub, film reviewer for The New York Times, offered his opinion that Murphy wished to "move beyond the tepid material" he had been given by Paramount.[4] Writer and producer Marty Kaplan said of Murphy's involvement "I feel like I've come close to winning the jackpot".[4]

The film was shot at various locations in Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Maryland, and Pasadena, California.[5]

Later director Jonathan Lynn said: "It was the unlikely combination of Eddie Murphy and politics that drew me to it. The script was by a Washington insider, Marty Kaplan, who had been Vice President Mondale's speech writer. I loved working with Eddie, whom I had admired since 48 Hours and Trading Places. He was a superbly inventive comedy actor, and a delight to work with."[6]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 13%, based on 16 reviews, and an average rating of 4.03/10.[7] The Distinguished Gentleman was released in December 1992 and went on to gross approximately $47 million at the domestic box office.[8][9] Critical reaction to the movie however was mostly negative. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times liked the premise and what it had going for it, but criticized it for its "slow pacing", despite it being a screwball comedy.[10] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly called it "a sterile, joyless comedy, photographed in ugly, made-for-video close-up and featuring a farce plot so laborious it suggests John Landis on a bad day".[11]

The movie won the feature film Environmental Media Award in 1993, and in 2001 the Political Film Society gave the film its special award of the year.

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References
  1. "A Few Good Men' tops weekend box office". Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  2. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=distinguishedgentleman.htm
  3. Tinna Elfstrand Corlin (1992-12-04). "Film page at Johnathanlynn.com". Jonathanlynn.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-12. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  4. Bernard Weinraub (1991-10-16). "Archive Story". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  5. Galbraith, Jane (1992-10-18). "A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : THE MURPHY FILE : Some Might Say That Fantasy Isn't Such a Bad Deal, Given the Political Realities". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  6. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/thor/19336/the-den-of-geek-interview-jonathan-lynn
  7. "The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  8. Fox, David J. (1992-12-08). "Weekend Box Office : 'Home' Still Alone at the Top". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  9. Hunt, Dennis (1993-06-18). "National Video Rentals : 'Gentleman' Fends Off 'River's' Rush". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  10. "A Roger Ebert review". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. 1992-12-04. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
  11. Owen Gleiberman (1992-12-11). "Review by ''Entertainment Weekly'". Ew.com. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
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