MCDOWELL AT THE GOLDEN GATES

Screen actor John Amos died last week, and although I can't vouch for much of his work throughout his evidently long career, I can happily vouch for his consummate performance in Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace and especially his comic performance as Cleo McDowell in John Landis's Coming to America (1988). In this famous culture-clash comedy film, Amos portrays, to hilarious effect, an American patriarch and business owner from Queens, New York, who stands in direct contrast to James Earl Jones's African monarch, King Jaffe Joffer of Zamunda.

Both fathers oversee their respective kingdoms—one an actual kingdom, the other a fast-food chain that has blatantly copied McDonald's and is on the verge of a lawsuit, having named its signature burger the "Big Mick," in obvious imitation of the "Big Mac," and featuring "Golden Arcs" instead of "Arches" for its brand signage.

Protective of his daughters, McDowell is a man who has worked hard to provide for his family and is determined not to let any down-at-heel suitors steal either Lisa (Shari Headley) or Patrice (Allison Dean) away from him. The trouble is, one of his workers, whom McDowell perceives as poor—Akeem (Eddie Murphy)—is actually a prince. Akeem has come to Queens, New York, in disguise to find a wife who will love him without knowing about his wealth and royal status in Zamunda.

Conversely, McDowell fails to see that the smug and Jheri-curled Daryl (Eriq La Salle), who has a decent amount of money and status, is actually a creep and is about to propose to his daughter Lisa before Akeem has any realistic chance, in his "pauper" guise, to court her. McDowell's transparently materialistic ambitions for his daughter are hilariously exposed in one scene, where he finally urges Lisa to forget about Daryl after learning that Akeem is a prince. Amos's performance perfectly balances McDowell's humanity, authority, and hypocrisy, providing a fitting (middle-class) mirror to King Jaffe Joffer, the king of Zamunda.