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Trading Places

Trading Places

Comedy · 1983

A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

Movie details

Trading Places

“They're not just getting rich... They're getting even.”

1983 Comedy 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

A snobbish investor and a wily street con-artist find their positions reversed as part of a bet by two callous millionaires.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Trading Places?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Landis

Written by

Herschel Weingrod · Timothy Harris

Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd

Louis Winthorpe III

Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy

Billy Ray Valentine

Ralph Bellamy

Ralph Bellamy

Randolph Duke

Don Ameche

Don Ameche

Mortimer Duke

Denholm Elliott

Denholm Elliott

Coleman

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis

Ophelia

Paul Gleason

Paul Gleason

Clarence Beeks

Court is in session

Put Trading Places on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.