Greed Screed Brewster's Millions

By RICHARD CORLISS

Yesterday's phenom, today's ho-hum. A few years ago, Richard Pryor was the comic everyman of movies and the top black box-office draw. But the pictures he made at machine-gun pace were too ordinary to sustain his eminence. He was still a star, but in spite of his work, not because of it. Worse, a new black phenom, with just as much on the ball and a better batting average, stole Pryor's thunder. Now he works in the shadows, a batting practice pitcher for All-Star Eddie Murphy. *

Brewster's Millions shows Pryor borrowing bits of the Murphy magic. Walter Hill directed Murphy's first hit, 48 HRS. Harris and Weingrod wrote Murphy's funniest movie, Trading Places. Their plot, based on the old George Barr McCutcheon wheeze, has an aging minor-league pitcher bequeathed $300 million on the condition that he spend $30 million in the next 30 days.

The film's bromidic theme -- that wealth brings not friendship but isolation and that having too much money is just about as bad as having too little -- could suit both the comic's style and his very public private life. Alas, autobiography and farce refuse to jell. Though John Candy (as an overweight catcher who is suggested for the position of Pryor's "designated eater") and especially Stephen Collins (as a smug, conniving wimp of a lawyer) are funny enough, the picture seems intent on drawing morals instead of laughs. Viewers may feel like demanding their own investment in the film back, and sending it to USA for Africa.