The Distinguished Gentleman could have been, should have been, a sharp satire.

A film about a con man who gets elected into Congress and becomes a player in the muddled dealings of government, it has no edge. The result is a bland comedy, the extremely slow pace of which is a mark against any film starring fast-talking Eddie Murphy.

To no surprise, Murphy plays a wisecracking variation of himself, this time named Thomas Jefferson Johnson, a con man operating out of south Florida. Through what has to be the most idiotically devised schemes in motion picture history, Johnson manages to get himself voted into Congress when a popular congressman, who shares Johnson's name, dies.

In Washington, Johnson is a fish out of water, eagerly looking for a quick buck. He falls under the wing of Congressman Dick Dodge (an inspired Lane Smith, who played Nixon on television in The Final Days). Johnson fits right into Dodge's team, taking large fund-raising donations from powerful businessmen.

Predictably, Johnson falls in love with a bleeding heart lobbyist (newcomer Victoria Powell), who presses the issue of child safety firmly into his libido. This forces Johnson to become morally conscious, leading to a predictable confrontation with Dodge.

The film was directed by Jonathan Lynn, whose last film was the entertaining My Cousin Vinny. That film worked because it had a smart script filled with intelligent characters. Marty Kaplan's script for The Distinguished Gentleman on the other hand is built on such a preposterous premise, heightened only by the characters' apparent lack of intelligence.

Like the material, Lynn's slow direction lacks a sharp sense of the Washington community, which would have made the improbable satirical.

The cast seems to sleepwalk through most of the film. Grant Shaud gives a carbon copy performance of his character, Miles, on Murphy Brown as Johnson's administrative assistant. While Joe Don Baker is completely wasted as a fat-cat businessman, only Charles Dutton shines as an outspoken minister.

Amid all of this is Murphy. It's sad to see such a talented comedian forced to get laughs by rolling his eyes, raising his eyebrows and giving that patented Murphy laugh at every opportune moment. It's high time Murphy stops rolling his eyes and opens them to the uninspired and unfunny material he's been putting out.