Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

A pimp (Howard Hesseman) gets into trouble so he cons a nerdy professor (Dan Aykroyd) into posing as his partner, a flamboyant pimp named Doctor Detroit. On paper this looks like it could be funny. Maybe with John Landis handling it, it could have been. But it's not. I have tried this movie three times in the last five years, desperately hoping each time I will finally "get it." But now I am accepting there just isn't anything to "get." It's just a very boring comedy that, despite a solid cast, has no laughs. It's not that I mind the silly paper-thin plot. It's a comedy so I don't expect much from the plot. I don't mind the subject matter. If anything, the movie suffers from not being raunchy enough. It's an 80's comedy about prostitutes and pimps yet it's pretty tame compared to similar films of the time. I don't even know how to pinpoint what is wrong with it except to repeat that it didn't make me laugh. Not once. Sorry. It blows.

Dan Ackroyd in his prime essays the role of DOCTOR DETROIT, a comic superpimp. In his regular life, Doctor Detroit is a meek college professor right out of a Golden Era slapstick comedy like Cary Grant in "Bringing Up Baby" or Gary Cooper in "Ball of Fire" or even Danny Kaye in the remake, "A Song Is Born." Why and how the professor turns into this larger-than-life, scratchy-voiced pimp is what the movie is all about. And in the end, the Doctor must face down Mom, a notorious gangster. Problem with the movie is Ackroyd was not scheduled to play the role. If memory serves, it was John Belushi, who had died rather suddenly. So Ackroyd steps in to save the day, except he simply isn't funny as the Doctor. He is fine as the professor, however. Ackroyd's soon-to-be, real-life wife Donna Dixon is his love interest.

Take a bit of Don Quixote, Trading Places, Risky Business and The Nutty Professor. Throw in Dan Ackroyd, Howard Hesseman and Fran Drescher.And you have Dr Detroit.A film that I think was most likely never released outside of the USA. Which is a shame as it has a good plot, good characters and good set pieces that drive the film well.Combine some excellent 80's music, throw in pimps and James Brown for good measure and you have one of Dan's best films and this does not deserve to be as unknown as is it.It has all the ingredients for a cult classic and really does deserve DVD release worldwide.Dan plays a mild mannered college Professor who is chosen by Hesseman as his made-up partner Dr Detroit. Hesseman owes money to Mom, a big-time hood in his local city and has no intention of paying. So he creates Dr Detroit, his business partner who will pay Mom and skips town.Leaving Dan to create Dr Detroit and look after the hookers and either pay off Mom or run her out of town.This doesn't look dated for an 80's movie, it's well shot and was pretty funny. I highly recommend you watch it.

I actually grew up watching this movie. No, my parents didn't neglect me. They just understood good comedy - even when it involved hookers. I loved this movie even though I didn't understand half of the jokes. It began my lifelong love affair with James Brown at the tender age of seven. I would run around the house singing "Get Up Offa That Thing", entertaining my whole family. As I got older I could appreciate the humor and that made it all the better. In my eyes this will always be a classic, and I will continue to subject my friends to it's VHS (formerly Beta) greatness. And P.S. I am so sad that it is not available on DVD yet.