Boy, politicians should have been great fodder for a comedy but this movie missed its potential

The plot is relatively simple. Eddie Murphy is a small-time con artist. Having recently overheard a conversation between several lobbyists and a congressman, Eddie realizes that (in his opinion) being a congressman is the biggest con of all. One day he happens to be in the right place at the right time when a congressman with virtually the same name as his dies. Eddie runs for election to replace the dead congressman with his only platform being that "you know the name". You must know that Eddie wins in a landslide.

Eddie's initial goal is to figure out how he can get as much money as possible. However, as is the case with all con artists, their undoing is when they begin to care. In Eddie's case, his undoing is a beautiful woman and a little girl diagnosed with cancer. The combination of the two makes Eddie care about someone other than himself, and you see Eddie change from that point.

Lane Smith plays Dick Dodge, a senior congressman on the powerful Power and Industry committee. Dick Dodge is a wheeler and dealer who knows all the ins and outs of Washington, and the best way to wield power and profit from his position. Initially Eddie looks to Dick as a mentor. While Eddie initially identified with Dick Dodge, as Eddie discovers that there is a harmful side-effect on ordinary people by the actions of people such as Dodge, Eddie eventually uses his abilities to remove Dodge from power.

This movie is a bit more cerebral than Eddie's typical movies. "Trading Places" was generally slapstick and situational comedy. "Beverly Hills Cop" was one-liners and irony. The humor in this movie is often more subtle, and in some cases may be lost on some viewers. There are places in the movie where the humor is slapstick and one-liners, however, much of the humor is satirical and often harder to discern.

While this movie is certainly not Eddie's best, neither is it among his worst. There are places in the movie that are inspired. However, for every inspired part of the movie there are tired jokes and typical Washington political satire. Worth watching once, and collecting for the avid Eddie Murphy fan, this movie rates a low 4 stars.

In order to maximize his influence with lobbyists, Murphy gets himself appointed to the most powerful committee in Congress, which in real-life is the Ways & Means Committee and when this film was made, was run by Dan Rostenkowski, but in the film is run by the equally corrupt Dick Dodge, played by Lane Smith.

In 1994, Rostenkowski was indicted on corruption charges and stepped down as Ways and Means chairman; he lost his House seat in the Congressional elections later that year. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 1996, and was fined and served (1996-97) a 17-month sentence.

One of the great things about this film is how it parallels the real-life Congress and how sleazy things were run under the Democrats when they controlled it. This film is a must for anyone interested in politics and for anyone that would like to see Murphy play a different role than his usual fare.

This movie is a great example of just how... Washington politics is. Murphy comes out well in his preformance. A much better con man preformance than Trading Places. If you're looking to know just how...our system is, give this movie a rent, then you be the judge.