This film was released at the pinnacle of Eddie Murphy's clout in Hollywood while he was riding high on Tony Scott's Beverly Hills Cop sequel, the most successful comic actor in the business and the epitome of the 80s-style action comedy like Arnie and Sly were to the straight action genre.

It's not certain whether this was a Murphy passion project or not other than the fact that he wrote it, but why he chose to make his 'Eddie Murphy movie' announcement to the world with this lacklustre effort shows the hubris typical of some actors who are surrounding by yes men when they really need someone to tell them when an idea sucks.

Lazily directed by Landis (long since having given up the energy that gave us An American Werewolf in London and slumming it in easy films like this), it depicts an African prince who comes to America to find a wife. The whole premise of the story is about him and his man-in-waiting (Hall) trying desperately to hide his true identity, believing no woman will love him for who he is instead of his money or privilege.

It was a fairly asinine idea to begin with, and without ribald jokes or the manic energy that propelled Murphy to prominence it falls flat.