You would have had to be living under a rock, or not born, to have missed out on the 1992 classic, Boomerang, starring Eddie Murphy with the likes of Martin Lawrence, David Alan Grier, Robin Givens, Eartha Kitt, John Witherspoon, Grace Jones and (then) lesser knowns Chris Rock and Halle Berry. But just in case you missed it, or even if you have seen the movie a million times through this 20th Anniversary year (and now I feel old), we’re gonna have a few laughs and talk a little shop about “a player who’s about to get played.”

Set in New York (“big city of dreams”), Eddie Murphy’s character, Marcus Graham is a successful marketing executive who prides himself on being fly and being a playboy. Marcus is every bit a male chauvinist and the stand out of his goofy buddy Gerard (Grier) and his hilariously “conscious” friend Tyler (Lawrence). Marcus becomes used to getting what he wants, when he wants and often relys on his charm and his…bedside manner to seal all the deals he can’t, even in his career. As a company merger finds him at a crossroads, he sleeps with the  um, seasoned  Lady Eloise (Kitt), believing she is the key to his appointment as head of marketing once the merger goes through. Enter Jacqueline Broyer (Givens), who we see as equally (if not more) successful, fly and, well…chauvinistic. She becomes a mirror for Marcus…one that he can’t stop looking into. Marcus finds out shortly thereafter that Lady Eloise is merely the face of the company and doesn’t make decisions, and Jacqueline is now his boss.

PLAYED!

How many times do we find ourselves trying to manipulate someone or something only to find out that we’ve been the ones manipulated? Sometimes a little wheeling and dealing is necessary to secure career success, but by no means should you hop in the sack with a 70+ year old…or anyone to make career moves. If you have to do all of that…well, maybe you should find a new profession. 

This kind of embarrassment might have cooled a few of our heels, but Marcus was intent on playing his hand…til the very end. After a few failed attempts at getting Jacqueline’s personal attention, she agrees to discuss business over dinner. Marcus pulls out all of the stops to woo her, but Jacqueline laughs at his advances and opts out of the candlelight dinner and into plates in front of the TV watching the Knicks game. This puzzles Marcus. A business trip to New Orleans puts them in a more relaxing atmosphere to enjoy themselves and eventually Marcus pulls a J. Holiday. Upon their return to New York, Marcus is smitten, assumes they are now dating and attempts make plans with Jacqueline to enjoy more evenings together. She throws on the brakes. This further catches Marcus off guard.

PLAYED! (AGAIN)

Women can often think (mistakenly) that giving a man what he wants, or suggests, is what gets him to stay/change/behave/commit (or whatever other misnomer you’d like to add). It isn’t. Most often by doing just the opposite you are most likely to achieve the goal you have in mind. (Yes, it’s backwards, no I’m not defending it). Women hold the burden of walking a very fine line between being a reflection of the man they like/love and being the change that he wants to make for himself AND they have to know when to be what. I mean why not just stand on your head and juggle 3 oranges, right? I mean, Jacqueline nailed the 1st part, but it was kinda quiet for the 2nd.

After standing Marcus up for a date, she sexes her way to forgiveness, skips the “afterglow” snuggle up, and then leaves $200 on the nightstand to cover Marcus’ expenses from the prior evening. Talk about COLD-BLOODED! To make matters worse, when Marcus attempts to break it off with Jacqueline because he feels totally disrespected, she agrees to cool things off and continues to share the details of their entanglement with the women of the entire company. These events start to take their toll on Marcus who has obviously fallen in love and is taken aback that Jacqueline would disregard his feelings so easily and carelessly.

I’m sorry, as a woman who has been on the receiving end of some antics my damn self, this is gold in terms of pure, unadulterated payback. In the words of the great Chris Rock, “I’m not saying (s)he shoulda done it…but I understand.” The very same sense of recklessness that he dealt with so many hearts became the farthest thing from his brain when his butt was over the fire. It was easy to play with the feelings of others but much harder to accept having his feelings played with. “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

After bombing a portion of a marketing campaign while in a case of “the feelings”, Marcus gets another shot, to save his job, and starts to work closely with Angela (Berry), the plain chick (yeah Berry was “plain” in this flick) he attempted to hook up with his pal Gerard earlier in the movie. Though they had gone out on a date, there was no romantic chemistry and the 2 maintained that they were just friends. Thanksgiving dinner brought Gerard, his parents and Angela over to Marcus’ house. After dinner and cleaning a million and one dishes, Marcus and Angela fall asleep on the couch and wake up, kissing. There’s a moment of “we shouldn’t” that’s overridden by  “let’s do it”, and we can assume they slept together after the scene closes. Marcus tells Gerard that he’s interested in Angela and all hell breaks lose…not because Gerard wants her for himself, but because he sees her value and doesn’t want Marcus to mess over her.

When your boys tell you that you ain’t shit…you ain’t shit. Your friends most often will allow you to live, even if you have some questionable ways, unless it affects them. But to have such an intense stance toward this development, it showed a) what beauty Angela truly had and b) that even friendship wouldn’t overshadow truth. That’s adulthood…and it’s not easy for everyone. Sometimes we find ourselves wanting to help or cajole our friends into (or out of) certain situations but we fear offending them or causing them to be angry with us. It takes a BIG person to consider what is right and what may spare another person’s heartache…and speak up about it. I’m just sayin’. “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.”

Marcus gets his swagger back (truth) by hanging with Angela. He gets back on his professional game by nailing the ad campaign, he stops obsessing over Jacqueline and he even finds his softer side by attending one of Angela’s volunteer art classes. All is well in the world until…Jacqueline reappears loving her some of the NEW and Improved Marcus.

See, this is where you need a rolled up newspaper or a damn slipper to swat somebody’s nose. (yes, that was a dog reference cuz that’s some dog sh*t). Though Marcus endears himself to the audience the entire movie, despite his foolish ways and through his final redemption, there are still some things that I’d run clear for the hills from. I’d like to think of myself as the “Angela” type…not super flashy, but beautiful, talented, supportive, kind etc and when you have good qualities, people genuinely want to be around you. People that are in dark places want you to share some sunshine. However, everyone isn’t worthy of your light. You can inevitably spend a great deal of time and invest a lot of feelings into a broken somebody, help build them up and then watch them crawl right back into the arms of the person who helped break them down in the first place. Marcus tells Angela that (despite his tryst with Jacqueline the night before) he loves her and from that moment emerges one of the greatest lines I think I’ve ever heard..and helped launch the career of one of the premier voices of the late 90′s. Never mind she’s now reduced to reality TV…I’m gonna remember the good times.

Marcus gambles and loses. He misses the “plain girl” and is no longer enamored by his “reflection”. We watch Marcus develop through the movie and learn important lessons that cause him to take responsibility for his actions and the feelings of those he says he loves. Ultimately, he winds up begging Angela back and they get together.

This movie is full of laughs, but it shows a boy, in essence, becoming a man and conquering immaturity in his social relationships. You come to appreciate the masterpiece after the splatters of paint dry. All men aren’t perfect and the things that some of them do shouldn’t be excused or validated, but sometimes, they actually do learn and become better for it. I like this movie because it also shows the varying degree of women. Every woman is not the “super cuff” chick. Some women are vicious and even moreso than the perceived man. “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

What have been some of YOUR boomerangs? What are some lessons it took some painful experiences for you to get in the end? Do you think you would have gotten the lesson without the kick in the pants, so to speak? 

As always, I encourage discussion and varying viewpoints. Let’s do it!

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