History Film / TradingPlaces

** Coincidentally, two original Muppet performers have small roles: Richard Hunt plays the Dukes' trader, Wilson, and Creator/FrankOz plays the DirtyCop.

* HatedByAll: [[spoiler: For all their wealth and supposed respectability, the Duke Brothers are such corrupt, nasty pieces of work that Winthorpe and Valentine team up together for revenge against them for playing around with their lives all for a one-dollar bet. Their own butler cusses them out after receiving lousy tips from them. Winthorpe's butler, Coleman (after being ordered to participate in their scheme to ruin Winthorpe's life) isn't happy with participating in their scheme and ruefully refers to them as scumbags, and it's implied the NYMEX officials don't like them very much since they gleefully sell their seats and don't seem to offer them any help when they go bankrupt.]]

** In a case of positive karma, Ophelia and Coleman take pity on Winthorpe and Valentine for what the Dukes did to them and [[spoiler:pool their life savings together so the duo can enact their short selling plan. When the plan succeeds, the two of them get to share in the massive profits the two made from the trades and live lives of luxury themselves.]]

* EurekaMoment: Billy Ray realizes during his party that he's just being used, and his guests only like him because he's now wealthy.

** Their willingness to destroy the life of one of their most loyal employees, and the fiancé of their niece, speaks to a staggering degree of immaturity that only someone without any understanding of responsibility would ever do. Louis may be a snob, but he's an incredibly capable businessman, charming, and seems devoted to Penelope. He's the kind of man who would want as an in-law and to one day run your business. And they cut this man's throat over a stupid bet?

* DoubleMeaningTitle: It's about two people who trade places. It's also about the commodities market.
** The people who trade places can also be read in two ways: either as Winthorpe and Valentine trading places, or as the two of them trading places with Randolph and Mortimer at the end.

* NatureVersusNurture: The entire plot begins when the Duke brothers place a bet on whether success in life is InTheBlood or a product of good environment. The movie makes a case for ''circumstances'' being more important than ''genes''. Despite his upper-class background, hitting RockBottom turns Winthorpe into a gun-toting maniac and WrongSideOfTheTracks Valentine becomes a charming commodities broker who provides his own street smarts.

* NiceToTheWaiter: The Duke Brothers don't treat their hired help well, [[TheScrooge offering only $5 bonuses (total, $2.5 from each)]] during the holidays and not acknowledging or even making eye contact with any of them in the opening. Louis himself doesn't treat hired help, [[PetTheDog except Coleman]], particularly well. While arriving at work, he doesn't even look his helpers in the eye. [[SuddenHumility Until after having lost his wealth]], that is. After arriving with Billy Ray [[spoiler:at the World Trade Center]], he specifically tells their taxi driver to keep his change upon paying him.

* SaltAndPepper: Winthorpe and Valentine. The working title was even "Black and White".

** Mortimer: [[spoiler:Learns that Randolph was right about people being able to overcome their lot in life. However, the lesson doesn't get any further than that and he's still both a miser and a racist. Though it should come in handy by the time [[Film/ComingToAmerica they're left homeless, only to be given a large amount of cash by an]] IdenticalStranger.]]

** Mortimer: [[spoiler:Learns that Randolph was right about people being able to overcome their lot in life. However, the lesson doesn't get any further than that and he's still both a miser and a racist.]]

* HatedByAll: [[spoiler: For all their wealth and supposed respectability, the Duke Brothers are such corrupt, nasty pieces of work that Winthorpe and Valentine team up together for revenge against them for playing around with their lives all for a one-dollar bet. Winthorpe's butler, Coleman (after being ordered to participate in their scheme to ruin Winthorpe's life) isn't happy with participating in their scheme and ruefully refers to them as scumbags, and it's implied the NYMEX officials don't like them very much since they gleefully sell their seats and don't seem to offer them any help when they go bankrupt.]]

* AffectionateNickname: Ophelia calls Louis "Louie".

%%* AllJustADream: Note: the subversion of this trope is covered under ThatWasNotADream
* AnimalDisguise: Done involuntarily to Agent Beeks after the heroes knock him out and take his place as part of their revenge scheme. He's put inside a (apparently sealed) gorilla suit and left in a cage with an actual gorilla that's being shipped back to Africa. Worse yet, the disguise is so effective, and Beeks has been gagged under the mask to boot, that the gorilla handlers think Beeks is a real gorilla, opting to leave him with the amorous real one. [[KarmicRape This does not end well for the antagonistic agent]].

* WhiteCollarCrime: Technically ''wasn't'' at the time, but what the Duke brothers attempted comes across as one and in modern times is now considered one.

** The Dukes, [[spoiler:having committed to buy a lot of frozen OJ at what turned out to be the highest prices of the day, desperately try to unload before their huge loss gets any worse, but their trader faints before getting very far. To make it worse, they bought the frozen OJ on margin, meaning they bought more frozen OJ than they could afford on the condition that they're forced to sell ("margin call") if their real money can't cover the current losses. The margin call occurs, the New York Mercantile Exchange officials demand payment from the Dukes, and since they don't have enough capital, they end up bankrupted]].