‘Mr. Church’ Trailer: Eddie Murphy Gets Serious
It’s been a while since we’ve seenEddie Murphystretch his dramatic muscles. Heck, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Eddie Murphy at all. His last film wasA Thousand Words, released all the way back in 2012. But he’s back this fall, and with his most dramatic role since 2006’sDreamgirls.
Murphy leadsMr. Churchas Mr. Church himself — a cook hired to care for a young girl (Britt Robertson) and her dying mother (Natascha McElhone). What was supposed to be just a job blossoms into a lifelong friendship. It’s directed byBruce Beresford, which seems appropriate sinceMr. Churchdefinitely has strongDriving Miss Daisyvibes. Watch theMr Churchtrailer below.
TheMr. Churchtrailer looks like a throwback, and not really in a good way. The racial dynamics seem regressive (like the kind of thing we would’ve expected to see 27 years ago, whenDriving Miss Daisyhit theaters), the emotions feel overwrought, and the characters look two-dimensional. Granted, it could be that the trailer is cut poorly and isn’t really representative of the movie at all. But theMr. Churchreviews from its Tribeca premiere aren’t terribly encouraging, either.
Consequence of Sound’s Nico Lang’s called it an “unusually bad melodrama,” sniffing, “As a piece of storytelling,Mr. Churchis about as enjoyable as a plague of locusts.“Indiewire’s Kimber Myerswas slightly more forgiving in its C- review, but not by much. “With its vintage setting and outdated views on race,Mr. Churchfeels like the ghost of cinema’s past,” they wrote. “It flails for the heartstrings, but instead of reaching them, it only tugs at that muscle that makes you roll your eyes at its old-fashioned, melodramatic attempts at emotion.”
On the bright side, several of the reviews praised Murphy’s work in the movie.Indiewire’s David Ehrlichwasn’t taken withMr. Churchas a whole (he gave it a C grade), but called Murphy’s performance one of his best, and added, “We can only pray that this is the start of a new chapter in his career.” AndThe Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck, who likedMr. Churchmore than most, raved, “Murphy delivers the sort of superb character turn that may well mark a sea change in his career.” Seeing as Murphy doesn’t have any films scheduled for the next few years (save the long-developing Richard Pryor biopic and even longer-developing sequels toTwinsandBeverly Hills Cop), we might want to savor his work when we can.
