After all his efforts to cook a sumptuous dinner, all she wants is watching the Knicks. But Marcus smartly dodges the woman/man issue by inviting Jacqueline for dinner (after all, male colleagues would do that), the result is literally the sprinkler sprinkled. It's interesting to see that man whose reputation as a sex-collector makes mail guys bet on his next performances, becomes the subject of his own shenanigans. What Marcus realizes, besides having been used as a sex toy, is that she's his boss, and she's out of the fooling-around zone. But the promotion is given to Jacqueline, played by the breathtakingly sexy Robin Givens. Kitt, 65, gives herself totally to the role and clap to turn off the lights before the rodeo starts, Marcus asks if it can be darker, the line isn't serious but reveals how seriously willing he is. Later, he spends a night with the president of the agency Lady Eloise (Eartha Kitt) counting on a casting couch promotion. They're too admirative of Marcus to see the problem: being as much a sexual object as the women he objectifies. They're outsiders who don't understand his reaction but then again he's the Alpha-male while Gerald pushes the platonic button so hard it always propels him into friend-zone and Tyler didn't have sex in the 90s (the film is from 1992). The 'feet' aftermath is discussed with his two buddies Gerald (David Alan Grier) and Tyler (Martin Lawrence). It's an interesting comment on how image is a double-edged sword for both sexes, while more of a burden for women. But take it for someone who worked in that racket, this is a woman's world, as image-awareness is largely considered a female trait, so for all his masculine act, Marcus got entrapped in the cult-of-image. Indeed, advertisement is all about attentiveness to image or packaging, and so the man regards his preys as 'objects'. This is neither a gag, nor a hint at a foot fetish but a revealer of the unconscious overlapping of his trade with his relationships. Then a quick stare on her feet while she's sleeping reveals ugly soles calling for immediate dumping. Yes, Marcus is always on the prowl but his perfectionism is rather impressive: he could have the girl in his bed but he plays it so smooth again he ends up in hers. One ellipse takes us to him decorating his house with the cautiousness of a caterer and ignoring the insult of his neighbor (Tisha Campbell) who keeps warning new girlfriends about the predator. The trick could work by earning him a number but it works so well she gives hers. His character-establishing moment occurs when he improvises a lost-dog scenario by buying a leash on the spot, Lela Ronchon falls in his trap. A lesser movie would've made him arrogant and detestable but Marcus plays in a whole other league, taking women as seriously as any part of his professional endeavor. And in this seemingly implausible world, Eddie Murphy plays Marcus, the smooth-talking womanizer who can get any girl. And from that starting point, it creates a whole new outlet for romantic comedies whose tropes were codified by Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts movies. This is not the first of its genre: Spike Lee built his reputation by portraying African-Americans in narrative realms outside the usual dictated tropes, but director Reginald Hudlin and writer Barry Blaustein went even further by exploring the world of glam, cosmetics agency, marketing, female power and reversed the roles with white people playing comic reliefs and women dominating men it's "The Cosby Show" meeting "Working Girl". First, let's credit "Boomerang" for what it is: an all-Black cast movie not centered on urban crime, drugs, racism, hood etc.
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