The Distinguished Gentleman

Thomas Jefferson Johnson is a small-time con artist working in Florida who sees an opportunity when the congressman representing his district dies. Because the two men share a surname, Johnson runs for the vacant seat and wins it, trading local hustles for Washington, where lobbyists and special interests channel large sums of money toward friendly politicians. What begins as a scheme to enrich himself grows more complicated once he is inside Congress and confronted with how its members operate.

Jonathan Lynn directed the film, which followed My Cousin Vinny earlier in 1992 and sits between that comedy and Greedy in his filmography. Marty Kaplan wrote the screenplay, and Leonard Goldberg and Michael Peyser produced. Eddie Murphy plays Johnson, with Lane Smith, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Joe Don Baker, Victoria Rowell and Grant Shaud among the principal cast; the production credits 70 cast members and 109 crew.

Released in December 1992, the comedy cost about 50 million dollars to make and returned roughly 47 million worldwide. On TMDB it holds a rating of 6 out of 10 from 339 votes, while film critics rated it 4 out of 10 across 16 reviews, a noticeably cooler response than that of general audiences.