Murphy assisted in developing the story with writers Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield, having worked with the writing duo since his days on Saturday Night Live. Murphy hired Hudlin to direct Boomerang, following the latter's success with his debut film House Party (1990). Hudlin and the writers aimed to create a romantic comedy that differed strongly from Murphy's previous comic efforts. Filming took place mainly in New York City, while other scenes were filmed in Washington, D.C.
The film was released in the United States on July 1, 1992, and was the 18th highest-grossing film in North America that year. Boomerang earned over $131 million worldwide during its theatrical run. The film garnered nominations at the BMI Film & TV Awards and the MTV Movie Awards, while its soundtrack became a top-selling album. Entertainment Weekly called it an underrated classic and one of the best Eddie Murphy movies of the 1990s.[2] A 2019 television series based on the film, also called Boomerang, premiered on February 12, 2019, on BET.
Plot
Advertising executive Marcus Graham is a serial womanizer, prone to lying to seduce women but unwilling to commit until he finds the "perfect woman." His friends Tyler and Gerard tell him his standards are too high, particularly his habit of judging women by their feet.
Marcus's company is acquired by cosmetics mogul Lady Eloise, who invites him to her home with amorous intentions; he spends the night with her, believing he will be promoted. The next day, he meets Jacqueline Broyer, who has been made head of his department instead. At a party to celebrate the merger, eccentric fashion diva Helen Strangé is announced as the new face of the company, and Jacqueline introduces Marcus to colleague Angela Lewis, whom he sets up with Gerard. Though they get along fine, Angela and Gerard learn that they're better as friends.
Despite his best efforts, Marcus is unable to woo Jacqueline. Over dinner at his apartment, she ignores his advances and is more interested in the basketball game on TV, leaving him frustrated. On a business trip to New Orleans, Jacqueline unexpectedly invites Marcus into her room, and they have sex. Afterward, he is relieved to find her feet up to his standards.
Marcus begins to fall for Jacqueline, but finds himself on the receiving end of his usual tactics: she ignores his feelings, manipulates him with sex, and keeps their relationship strictly on her terms. Discovering she has bragged about their trysts to Strangé, whose advances he is forced to reject, Marcus confronts Jacqueline, and she ends their affair. Marcus finds himself the subject of office gossip, and his work begins to suffer. After a major business proposal is almost ruined, Jacqueline forces Marcus to take a few paid weeks off as an alternative to being fired.
Marcus spends time with Angela, who tries to bring him out of his funk. He realises he's developing feelings for her when they bond over watching late night reruns of Star Trek. After hosting Thanksgiving dinner with Tyler, Gerard, and Gerard's tactless parents, Marcus and Angela sleep together. Gerard is furious, believing Marcus will mistreat Angela like his past conquests. They move in together, but she is hurt when he downplays their relationship in a phone call with Jacqueline. Marcus, having regained his confidence, proves newly attractive to Jacqueline, and they sleep together again.
Marcus returns home to Angela in the middle of the night, and when she confronts him in the morning, he explains that he is confused by his feelings for her and for Jacqueline. She breaks up with him and takes a promotion at another company. Marcus rebounds with Jacqueline, but realizes his love for Angela; he returns home to find she has moved out. Marcus reconciles with Gerard, and visits Angela at her new job, convincing her that he is truly committed to her, and they get back together.
Eddie Murphy created the original idea for the film, which he took to writers Barry Blaustein and David Sheffield, both of whom he had been working with during his days at Saturday Night Live. After they finished the first draft of the script and were given the greenlight on the project, Murphy offered the directing job to Reginald Hudlin, who had previously found critical and commercial success with his debut film House Party. For Boomerang, Hudlin said that, from a creative standpoint, he really wanted to take Murphy "somewhere where he's never been before," and that he and the writers' goal was to "put Eddie through paces. To have him have an arc like most characters in movies do, where he's not just the Br'er Rabbit character starting trouble," and to put him in a situation that "allows him to have a genuine obstacle."
Woody Omens, the cinematographer of the film, was insisted upon by Murphy, who had previously worked with him on Harlem Nights. Earl Watson worked as the film's main editor, and had previously worked with Hudlin on House Party. Francine Jamison-Tanchuck worked as the film's costume designer.
The intention was to give Murphy's character Marcus Graham a cool, yet sophisticated style. "So typically when it comes to black characters, either you have to be a successful, smart business person, or you're hip, but you're never both," said Hudlin. "And one of the reasons why the movie has had such enduring popularity is because the character is both. He's much more in the Cary Grant mode of business person." While working on the characterization of the main character, Hudlin came up with the foot gag, which was used as a plot device to show the arc of the character's growth. It originated from a joke between the director and his friends about a man who's so picky about women that he even looks at their back teeth. "So it's like, how do we define that Eddie's a back teeth kind of guy? So I came upon the idea of showing feet. That no matter how beautiful this woman is, if she has messed up feet, he's out of there." Also, Hudlin said that "we know he's evolved into a higher level of consciousness when he doesn't even notice what Halle Berry's feet look like." The character Angela's art class was an idea the filmmakers had to put Murphy in a context where he could interact with kids, which he hadn't done prior to this film.
The cast rehearsed for two weeks before production started, which the director said "really created that sense of team, and everyone playing off each other and everyone having that comfort level." Murphy even told Hudlin that he hadn't rehearsed since his days at SNL, and that he was going to rehearse for all of his movies from then on.
The scene in which Marcus changes his mind while with Jacqueline was a major rewrite to the script. According to Hudlin, in the original draft, Eddie's character Marcus
never decides anything, things are decided for him by the different women. So, we finally realized he had to make an affirmative choice. Going through the script with a buddy of mine, we talked about it, and my buddy Tre said "look, he's got to make a decision." And I said, "you're right. He's got to reject her, and choose her." And it seems so obvious now, I'm like "what's wrong with me? What was wrong with all of us that it took us so long to figure out what we really needed to do to fix the movie?"[3]
Casting
Halle Berry was cast as Angela.
Hudlin knew immediately that he wanted Halle Berry for the role of Angela after she came in and did the reading, and was nervous that Murphy wouldn't like her. Berry had appeared in a couple of films prior to being cast in Boomerang. However, after Berry performed her screen test, Murphy told Hudlin "well, that's it. There's no need to see the other two actresses because she's the part." Executives at Paramount Pictures were nervous about Robin Givens being cast in such a major role in the film, as she was disliked by many in the general public at the time because of her past relationship with Mike Tyson. Hudlin however, "thought that actually made her perfect for the role, that she was this formidable person, and a match for Eddie Murphy, who also had an intrepid reputation as a ladies' man. So, I wanted the audience to feel like this would be a fair fight."
David Alan Grier and Martin Lawrence were cast as Murphy's best friends in the film. At the time, Grier was well known for the show In Living Color. About him, Hudlin said, "I think he is an absolutely underrated genius. I think he is Steve Martin-level funny, and it's too bad more people don't know how to use his comic gift, because he is absolutely brilliant." Lawrence was brought on to the project after first working with Hudlin on House Party, which was his first major role in a film. Bebe Drake-Massey and John Witherspoon had played a couple in House Party, and were reunited for the film, this time playing the character Gerard's parents. Tisha Campbell also worked with Hudlin on House Party, and was brought on board to play Murphy's obnoxious, and somewhat obsessive, neighbor. While on the set, Hudlin would always rave about Campbell and Lawrence, and Murphy suggested Hudlin do a film with the two of them. Lawrence, who was developing his television show at the time, overheard the two actors talking, and decided to cast Campbell as his girlfriend and later wife, Gina, for his hit sitcom Martin.
Grace Jones was cast in a role that was essentially written as a parody of herself. Of her work ethic, Hudlin said that "she was always 100% committed, and would do the absolute craziest thing at any given time. She was absolutely perfect for the role. It was written for her, and she came in very humble, very sweet."
Eartha Kitt was the hardest person to cast for the film, as she was somewhat offended by her character's tone in the original script. Eventually she accepted the role, after some of the more tasteless jokes in the script were changed or removed. Hudlin however did say that "she was great to work with," and that "she really got into the spirit of it, and was a lot of fun."
Lela Rochon, who was known for her role in Murphy's 1989 film Harlem Nights, was brought back for a small role in Boomerang. Chris Rock, who was a protege of Murphy's, and had acted in small roles in a few other films at the time, was also given a bit part. The role of Lady Eloise's butler was played by Jonathan Hicks, a friend of the director's, who replaced a sick actor at the last minute. Hicks was a reporter for The New York Times, not an actor, and took the role as a favor to Hudlin.[3]
The majority of the film was shot in New York City during the winter. Although it was very cold, the director said that it was still "great to actually be in the city and get that authentic New York flavor." Most of the film was done on location as well. Interior scenes which took place at Marcus' workplace were shot in the old Univision building that had been repainted for production. The scene in Lady Eloise's bedroom was shot at the Boston Park Plaza, in a suite personally redesigned by Ivana Trump, which accounts for the unique styling. The scene of Strangé's introduction was filmed at the Winter Garden Atrium of Brookfield Place.
Although director Hudlin was willing to let his actors improvise, there were boundaries and rules to it, so that the jokes wouldn't lead to nowhere. He explained that once the actors "get a sense that someone will tell them if something doesn't work, or that we're getting too far afield, then they feel comfortable doing what they do. So, that's the balance that we struck."
Production went well, and as expected with so many comic actors and personalities around, was lively. During production, Hudlin said that whenever David Alan Grier and Martin Lawrence worked, the film's crew usually worked a little slower because wherever they were, there would be so much comedy being generated and they were so funny that everyone wanted to hang out near where they were throughout the day. In the scene where the new fragrance is being presented to Strangé, the director said that "what Grace was doing on the set while we were shooting was so funny that I remember Halle crying off camera, cause she was trying to keep a straight face but she couldn't. So whenever she was off-camera, she would just be literally crying because she was laughing so hard. And fortunately, for her reaction shots she was able to recover."
An extra scene, involving Jones taking off her chain-metal dress which is ringing off the metal detectors and walking through them naked, was shot in Newark Airport. However, the filmmakers felt it to be too shocking, to the point where it threw the rhythm of the picture off, so they only used it in the small clip being edited for the approved perfume commercial.
The scene late in the film where Grier, Lawrence, and Murphy hug in front of the Empire State Building was shot around one or two o'clock in the morning, when the lights are usually shut off. If the filmmakers had them shut off at their command, it would have cost them $40,000–$60,000, so instead Hudlin had the three hug, and the lights were eventually shut off as usual. When editing the film, they simply reversed the footage to make it appear as if the lights were being turned on. The filmmakers even thought about ending the movie at this point, deciding instead to go with Marcus attempting to win back Angela's affection. For this, an alternate ending was shot where Angela is teaching the kids at the school and Marcus comes, talks to her and eventually wins her back; the filmmakers thought it was slow and uninteresting, and eventually came up with the released version.
Near the production's end, some scenes that still needed to be shot were done in Washington, D.C., where Murphy was also shooting The Distinguished Gentleman. Originally, some of the film was to take place in the Caribbean, and scenes were to be shot there. However, the setting was changed to New Orleans, and the scenes taking place there were shot in D.C.[3]
Sometimes we used score, sometimes we'd use a song by L.A. and Face, or sometimes Marcus would take some of the songs they had written and do score interpolations of it. For example, one of the songs, "Love Shoulda Brought You Home", is a great example. That came from a line of dialogue where Halle is furious with Eddie, says "love should've brought your ass home last night," slaps him. At that time, L.A. leans over to me and goes "that's a great song title." I said, "great idea." They write a song, "Love Shoulda Brought You Home". I said, "well, who we going to get to sing it?" And they said "well you know, we've got this great young singer who sang the demo, Reggie. If you like the demo then we can use her." And I said "great, let's use her." So that was Toni Braxton's debut. And I remember when I finally met Toni at Babyface's wedding, L.A. said, "you owe your career to this guy, he gave you your big break," which was really sweet.[3]
The soundtrack album reached the number four spot on the Billboard 200, and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[4] It included multiple singles that charted in their own right, the most successful of which was Boyz II Men's "End of the Road", which went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart,[5] and stayed there for thirteen weeks, breaking Elvis Presley's previous record of eleven weeks with his version of "Hound Dog".
Design
The production was very demanding, including an expensive wardrobe budget, which Hudlin felt was completely worth the price. "The clothing in the movie is incredible, for both the men and the women. Eddie looks great, Robin and Halle look great. Great hair, great makeup work for all concerned, cause we wanted it to look fantastic. We wanted to give people a level of production value they hadn't seen for Eddie's first foray into true romantic comedy."[3]
Influences
François Truffaut's Jules and Jim was an influence on the story arc between the characters Angela, Gerard and Marcus. Hudlin explained, "I remember when I saw Jules and Jim when I was a kid, and that awkward, awkward feeling of two guys, one has a better time with girls than the other, and they both fall in love with the same woman. And I remember the agony of watching the emotional stakes of that picture. And, this is just a fun movie, not trying to compare myself to Truffaut on any level, but, at least, that's what inspired the moment."
The pacing and rhythm of Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday was a big influence on the pictures style. Woody Allen's Annie Hall was also very influential while Hudlin worked on the project because, according to Hudlin, "if you talk about contemporary romantic comedy, you're really talking about Annie Hall."[3]
Reception
Box office
On its opening weekend, the film earned $13,640,706, and ranked number three at the box office.[6] It also ranked number three the two following weekends.[7] By the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed over $70 million domestically, and $61 million outside of the U.S., making a total of $131,052,444. It was the 18th highest-grossing film in the US in 1992.[8] Compared to its budget, the film was considered a success.[9]
Critical reception
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 48%, based on 42 reviews, and an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Boomerang injects some fresh color into the corporate rom-com formula, but the frothy fun is undercut by off-putting gender dynamics and misjudged gags."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.[12]
Roger Ebert gave the film and its stars positive reviews, calling the movie "predictable but enjoyable all the same."[13] In 2005, the film was ranked number 21 on BET's Top 25 Movies In the Last 25 Years list.[14]
In retrospect, Kristen Baldwin from Entertainment Weekly said: "Though it never received the critical appreciation it deserved, and it is often overlooked in discussions of the rom-com pantheon today, Boomerang still holds up 27 years later."[2]
About the critical response, Hudlin said:
There was one infamous review of the film that summed up the ignorance of many critics. The movie was called a science fiction film, because those writers didn’t know about any successful black companies. They didn’t know about Johnson Products, or Johnson Publishing, or Burrell Advertising, or UniWorld Advertising, or any black law firms or… They were just ignorant, which they tried to pass off as wit. It was also frustrating for (Eddie) because he was stretching out, expanding the range of movies he was doing, but instead of applauding him for doing something different, they sneered. So many people love the film, from Lena Horne to Ice Cube. There are people who watch it with their family every Thanksgiving. But there was this crazy generation gap between the white people who ran Hollywood at the time the film was made, and the white people who grew up on hip hop who are players in Hollywood today. There's a much higher percentage of white executives who at least have a basic knowledge of black pop culture today, thank goodness. That’s why you can't sweat the controversy of the moment. Over time, the true value of a movie is revealed. Which is why it's so nice Boomerang has generations of fans.[15]
About the legacy and the cult status of Boomerang, Eddie Murphy said: "I love that Boomerang has the legs it had. I love that it's still works... I'm proud of that film"[16]
Halle Maria Berry is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant and coming in sixth in the Miss World 1986. Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedy Boomerang (1992), alongside Eddie Murphy, which led to roles in The Flintstones (1994) and Bulworth (1998) as well as the television film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
American Beauty is a 1999 American comedy-drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature directorial debut. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, an advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, played by Mena Suvari. Annette Bening stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney co-star. Academics have described the film as satirizing how beauty and personal satisfaction are perceived by the American middle class; further analysis has focused on the film's explorations of romantic and paternal love, sexuality, materialism, self-liberation, and sexual grooming.
Edward Regan Murphy is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He shot to fame on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. Murphy has received accolades such as the Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, and an Emmy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He was honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2015 and the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2023.
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. Known for her work in film and television since the 1980s, she has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and eight Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023, and she was chosen to receive an Academy Honorary Award in 2023.
Monster's Ball is a 2001 American romantic drama film directed by Marc Forster, produced by Lee Daniels and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, who also appeared in the film. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Halle Berry, and Peter Boyle, with Sean Combs, Mos Def, and Coronji Calhoun in supporting roles.
Another 48 Hrs. is a 1990 American buddy cop film directed by Walter Hill and starring Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Andrew Divoff, and Ed O'Ross. It is the sequel to the 1982 film 48 Hrs. Nolte reprises his role as San Francisco police officer Jack Cates, who has 48 hours to clear his name from a manslaughter charge. To do so, he again needs the help of Reggie Hammond (Murphy), who is a newly released convict. At the same time, a mastermind known only as the Iceman has hired a biker gang to kill Reggie.
Reginald Alan Hudlin is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was President of Entertainment for Black Entertainment Television (BET). Hudlin has also written numerous graphic novels. He co-produced the 88th Academy Awards ceremony in 2016 as well as other TV specials.
Vampire in Brooklyn is a 1995 American vampire comedy horror film directed by Wes Craven. It stars Eddie Murphy, who produced and wrote with his brothers Vernon Lynch and Charles Q. Murphy. The film co-stars Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Zakes Mokae, and Joanna Cassidy. Murphy also plays an alcoholic preacher, Pauly, and a foul-mouthed Italian-American mobster, Guido, respectively.
Black Mama White Mama, also known as Women in Chains, Hot, Hard and Mean and Chained Women, is a 1973 women in prison film directed by Eddie Romero and starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov. The film has elements of blaxploitation.
The Nutty Professor is a 1996 American science fiction comedy film starring Eddie Murphy. It is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name, which starred Jerry Lewis, which itself was a parody of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The film co-stars Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Larry Miller, Dave Chappelle, and John Ales. Filming began on May 8, 1995 and concluded on September 8, 1995. The original music score was composed by David Newman. The film won Best Makeup at the 69th Academy Awards.
The Rich Man's Wife is a 1996 American thriller film written and directed by Amy Holden Jones and starring Halle Berry. The title character becomes a suspect when her husband is murdered and the investigating detectives are suspicious of her alibi. The film was released on September 13, 1996.
"Love Shoulda Brought You Home" is the debut solo single by American singer Toni Braxton. It was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Daryl Simmons, and Bo Watson and produced by Edmonds and Simmons along with L.A. Reid. Originally written for singer Anita Baker, who had to decline due to her pregnancy, it was eventually recorded by Braxton and featured on the soundtrack to Reginald Hudlin's romantic comedy film Boomerang (1992). The song was later also included on Braxton's self titled debut album (1993). Lyrically, the slow-groove R&B song is saga of betrayal and infidelity that depicts a heartbroken Braxton.
Norbit is a 2007 American romantic comedy film, directed by Brian Robbins, and co-written by, co-produced by, and starring Eddie Murphy. The film co-stars Thandiwe Newton, Terry Crews, Cuba Gooding Jr., Eddie Griffin, Katt Williams, Marlon Wayans, and Charlie Murphy. It was released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures on February 9, 2007. Eddie Murphy portrays multiple roles including the eponymous Norbit and his abusive obese wife Rasputia; regretting ever having married her, Norbit decides he has had enough of her behavior at about the same time that his childhood sweetheart Kate returns to his life with plans for the orphanage where Norbit and Kate grew up. Norbit risks everything to be with her, but must also contend with Rasputia and her brothers, who have an agenda of their own.
Why Did I Get Married? is a 2007 American comedy-drama film adaptation written, produced, directed, and starring Tyler Perry. It was inspired by Perry's play of the same name. The film also stars Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Malik Yoba, Sharon Leal, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Richard T. Jones, Denise Boutte, and Keesha Sharp. The film was released in the United States by Lionsgate on October 12, 2007.
Striptease is a 1996 American black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Andrew Bergman, and starring Demi Moore, Armand Assante, Ving Rhames, Robert Patrick and Burt Reynolds. Based on Floridian crime writer Carl Hiaasen's 1993 best-selling novel of the same name, the film centers on an FBI secretary-turned-stripper who becomes involved in both a child-custody dispute and corrupt politics.
The Call is a 2013 American psychological crime thriller film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Richard D'Ovidio. The film stars Abigail Breslin as Casey Welson, a teenage girl kidnapped by a mysterious serial killer and Halle Berry as Jordan Turner, a 9-1-1 operator, still suffering emotionally from a prior failed botched 9-1-1 call, who receives Casey's call. Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Michael Imperioli, and David Otunga also star. The story was originally envisioned as a television series, but D'Ovidio later rewrote it as a film. Filming began in July 2012 and spanned a period of 25 days, with all scenes being shot in California, mainly Burbank and Santa Clarita.
Since is a 1966 film directed by Andy Warhol about the assassination of the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. The film reconstructs the assassination with both Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson present, both before and after the event. The roles in Since are performed by Warhol's "superstars" from The Factory.
Hit Lady is a 1974 made-for-TV film which aired on October 8, 1974. Starring Yvette Mimieux as artist and assassin Angela de Vries, it was written by Mimieux and directed by Tracy Keenan Wynn.
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