An honorable gentleman

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Movie
German title An honorable gentleman
Original title The Distinguished Gentleman
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1992
length 112 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jonathan Lynn
script Marty Kaplan
production Leonard Goldberg
Michael Peyser
music Randy Edelman
camera Gabriel Beristain
cut Barry B. Leirer
Tony Lombardo
occupation

The Distinguished Gentleman (AKA The Distinguished Gentleman ) is an American comedy film from the year 1992 by Jonathan Lynn with Eddie Murphy in the lead role.

action

Thomas Jefferson Johnson, named after President Thomas Jefferson by his grandmother , lives in Florida as a petty criminal of check fraud, theft or extortion of phone sex customers. During one of his "missions" he overhears a conversation between the Congress seconded by Jefferson "Jeff" Johnson and the industry representatives Olaf Andersen, which is about substantial donations from industry and financially carefree life of a congressman in the amount of several hundred thousand dollars goes. This piques the interest of the petty criminal. Shortly afterwards, when the MP Johnson dies of a heart attack , Thomas Johnson comes up with the idea of ​​using the same name (leaving out his first name) to win the by-election for the deceased MPs in Congress, which he actually got with the support of a senior citizens' organization ( The Silver Foxes ) succeeds.

After moving into Washington, DC (belatedly) , Johnson and his team quickly learn, in particular, the unofficial ways of parliamentary decision-making through access to committees and lobby parties. Supported by his previous criminal experience, he integrated himself into the system of "give and take" between MPs and lobbyists in a very short time. Essential for this is his connection to the chairman of the Committee for Power and Industry, Richard "Dick" Dodge, who has long played a major role in the world of legal corruption.

Just as Johnson is beginning to establish himself successfully, he meets the young honorary lawyer Celia Kirby, who represents the interests of minorities and problem areas that are not considered by mainstream politics. When an amorous relationship begins to develop between the two, Kirby appeals to the good conscience in Johnson to fulfill his duties as elected representative. The fact that the MP Reverend Elijah "Ely" Hawkins, who is doing his best to represent the interests of the people and repeatedly comes into conflict with the lobby-dependent MPs, who is Uncle Celia Kirby, wins the relationship between Kirby and Johnson in tension.

The relationship falls into a serious crisis when Hawkins suffers a car accident through no fault of his own after a meal with Johnson. The Dodge consulted by Johnson hushed up the accident in such a way that Johnson's involvement (as a passenger) was kept out of the press, but Hawkins was portrayed in public as a drinking driver in order to pull him out of the traffic as a politically upright political opponent of Dodge .

The crisis prompts a rethink at MEP Johnson, who from now on represents the interests of children with cancer who live near power lines . The plot climaxes when, during a hearing in the Energy Committee, Johnson pressures Chairman Dodge in front of the press (invited by Johnson). In return, Dodge confronts the public with Johnson's criminal past. He admits his past misconduct, but in turn relativizes them with a view to the events in Washington DC. When a privately and secretly recorded video is played in which the industrialist Andersen lists and shows Chairman Dodge his contributions (in the form of money, amenities and personal favors) over the past few years, the committee meeting escalates. It ends with Chairman Dodge, who assaults Johnson, is taken into custody and removed from office. Johnson is also expelled from Congress.

Finally, in an interview with his regained flame, Johnson tells Kirby that now that he has become famous as a cleaner, he is willing to run for the presidency.

Reviews

“A staging, undecided between star cinema, modern fairy tales and political satire, undermines the critical potential of the script. All in all only moderately funny. "

- Lexicon of international film

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ An honorable gentleman. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used