Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

"I'm a business man. That's my thing. Doin business." Axel Foley

Beverly Hills Cop is a great buddy cop movie that set the tone for so many knock offs, clones, and rip-offs that it doesn't seem to have the freshness it had at the beginning. But no matter, if you give it a chance you'll agree that Eddie Murphy's 3rd picture and first top-billed role has more than its share of action combined with belly laughs and one-liners that make it a real crowd pleaser and worth viewing again and again.

The story is a good one, but not much different than most of the fish-out-of-water type stories where a cop has to work in unfamiliar territory against tall odds. What is notable about Beverly Hills Cop is the dialog and character created by Eddie Murphy, one of his strongest performances to date.

Murphy was off to an excellent start with 48 Hrs and Trading Places whereupon he was given the starring role in this movie. He still had a freshness and real sense of timing before he apparently began to believe his own press and began to do stylized imitations of himself. At the time he did this movie he was at his funniest and you can see elements of Eddie in the shtick of later black comedians that have been ripped off from Eddie Murphy's movies like this one.

The story concerns revenge where Detroit Police detective Axel Foley (Murphy) hunts for the killer of his friend who was lately of Beverly Hills. If you've seen Coogan's Bluff or McCloud you will have an idea of the fish out of water situations he finds himself in the richest neighborhood in America. He soon discovers that there is an art importer using his business as a cover for smuggling and this was the reason his friend was killed. How can he prove his allegations when the Beverly Hills police are trying their level best to run him out of town? There are lots of comic situations and action that keeps you paying attention. I should mention the tremendous pop score by Harold Faltermeyer that is very memorable and engaging.

Martin Brest (Midnight Run) directed, and brought a lot of humor to the story by telling Beverly Hills detectives Taggart and Rosewood (John Ashton and Judge Reinhold) to act like an old married couple, with the nagging and bickering of people who have been together a long time. Fans will note that was the same relationship between Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin in "Midnight Run" which is also a great buddy movie, by the way.

Apart from Eddie Murphy's assured performance, both John Ashton and Judge Reinhold are excellent comedic back-ups, with Ashton the straight man and Reinhold the comedian, very much like Laurel and Hardy or Abbot and Costello. The small parts also have a good selection of well done characters with Ronny Cox (Deliverance) the police lieutenant who learns the value of a good lie and Bronson Pinchot as a smarmy east European art clerk who gets a couple of chances to murder the English language with delightfully comic results.

The Paramount Special Collector's Edition DVD is presented in color, in 1.85:1 theatrical format, with a 105 minute running time. There are a full length commentary by director Martin Brest and several featurettes that are quite informative showing the making of Beverly Hills Cop.

More great Eddie Murphy comedies -

48 HRS

Trading Places

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening