The Golden Child - PG-13

Murphy gets mystical in '80s adventure comedy.

Rating: PG-13 for violence, scary images, sexual humor, language and brief nudity Studio: Paramount Directed By: Michael Ritchie Cast: Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, J.L Reate Running Time: 94 minutes Release Date: 12/12/1986 Genre: Comedy

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know this movie has satanic imagery, mystical theories about the world, and some violence, including martial arts-style fighting with weapons and deaths, and attempted violence against a child. There's also plenty of sexual innuendo between two of the main characters who eventually sleep together, but nothing is shown.

Families can talk about culture shock and comedy. Most of the laughs come from Eddie Murphy's character bumbling through unfamiliar traditions. What other comedies use this type of humor? When does it cross the line into stereotyping or laughing at other traditions? Does this movie do that?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Terreece Clarke

THE GOLDEN CHILD is a mystical, comedy adventure about Chandler Jarrell, a private detective who finds out his destiny is not just to find runaway children, but to save the "golden child," a bringer of compassion to the world, from the demon who has kidnapped him and will ultimately kill him. Beautiful, mysterious woman, Kee Nang, joins him on his quest. Though initially skeptical of Kee and her story of the golden child, he soon realizes that not only is the Golden Child real, the demons that are after him are, too.

This is classic 1980s Eddie Murphy. He sails through a pretty weak plot with his trademark humor, almost lending some validity to the nonsense going on around him. Murphy's Chandler is an endearing bad boy who can be a bit of a jerk when he encounters cultures that differ from his own.

Kids will love the adventure, the cute kid playing the Golden Child, and will probably get a good laugh at the '80s special effects. Parents may cringe at the thrown-together romance and the disturbing satanic imagery, but will also enjoy Murphy's great comedic timing and ad libs.

Other mystical adventures: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Clash of the Titans

Reviewed: 01/22/2005

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Lots of innuendo with romance between two of the main characters. A woman appears in a man's dreams wearing a sexy outfit and tied up with toilet paper. A couple gets dressed in the morning making it clear that they spent the night together. A woman is described as being raped by a dragon.
Violence Martial arts-style fighting with weapons and injuries; a demon wants to kill a child; a girl is murdered and we see police taking pictures of her body, but her body isn't shown. The bad guys try to feed a child oatmeal with blood in it. Monks are killed trying to protect a child from demons, and a woman is shot in the back with an arrow.
Language Quite a bit of swearing. No f-bombs, but just about everything else, at least once.
Message
	Social Behavior A classic good-vs.-evil story with the good guy not being a perfect angel, but learning from his failings. The "golden child" represents compassion in the world.
	Commercialism Quarker Oats and Pepsi.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Alcohol and tobacco use by adults.