Is Eddie Murphy Still Funny?

Eddie Murphy is officially hosting the Oscars, and entertainment writers are up in arms panning or defending the choice. Here’s what people are saying:

• “It’s hard to get excited,” writes Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times, “because—how do I put this as respectfully as possible?—his last three live-action movies have been embarrassingly schlocky stinkers.” To modern moviegoers, he “feels like a relic from another age.”
• “If his jokes are of the Daddy Day Care variety, then we’ll be in for a really long night,” writes Dave Karger of EW. But let’s give him a chance: “Wouldn’t it be great if the Oscars helped return one of our best comedians to his former glory?”

• Andy Greenwald of Grantland thinks Murphy could be great, for one reason: “He’s spent the last two decades building up a Klump-sized brick of resentful rage” against the Hollywood machine, and “nobody could make his victims laugh as hard as Eddie Murphy.”
• Christopher Rosen of Moviefone on the other hand is one of the few who doesn't want Murphy to rediscover his edginess. “Edgy simply doesn’t work” at the Oscars, he argues, and if Murphy hasn’t let his standup skills “atrophy beyond repair, he’s capable of absolutely wowing audiences."