Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Eddie Murphy Great!!!

This Movie lists John Ashton as the star of this movie, but in reality it is Eddie Murphy the Con Artist Cop from Detroit who goes to Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of a friend. He soon encounters beverly Hills finest including Ronny Cox as the Police captain and Judge Reinhold as the officer along with John Ashton. All straight laced Cops who Eddie bends his way to solve this crime. An Eddie Murphy must see! November 25, 2008

Murphy's Best Role - A Unique Fish-Out-Of-Water Comedy!,

Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is in Beverly Hills for a few days to investigate the murder of an old acquaintance. Axel assumes the suspect is a local tycoon, but no one seems to believe him - including the police force, being semi-run by Ronny Cox (in one of his rare good-guy roles).

Axel comes into trouble with the law his first day on the job after getting thrown through a glass window by some thugs. He is arrested, and when released finds himself hounded by a pair of inept police officers around the town for a few days. After outsmarting them (in one of cinema's most delightful moments - ever) Axel gets hooked up with an old friend and manages to roam the streets looking for clues - which, of course, he finds very easily.

Before this film Eddie Murphy had starred in one film that had launched his name into Hollywood: "48 HRS." But by all reasonable comparisons this is a much, much better film, and it's also much, much funnier, too. What's most refreshing is that it doesn't fall back upon the stereotypes of African-Americans inherent in so many mainstream motion pictures - the role of Axel Foley was originally written for Sylvester Stallone (who was actually attached to star early on in pre-production before dropping out of the project) and it's quite clear that Foley was intended as a white character. Although massive rewrites were employed only two weeks before shooting, script flaws can still be spotted - the heroine of the story is a white businesswoman, for example, and we expect some sort of sexual tension between them but there is none. We begin to question the very presence of the female lead because in essence it leads nowhere. We can imagine how it might have developed into a love story, but Murphy works against the flow, awkwardly treating her as nothing more than a friend.

These sorts of things sometimes bring out the occasional odd touches in the film - ironically they unintentionally set the film apart from other such movies of the genre because it's not typical in any sense. Sure, it has the routine shoot-outs but there is no romance subplot, no pointless racial comparisons (more of which would be seen in the two sequels), etc. The movie greatly benefits from this because it seems so fresh, and far more believable - after all, rarely are romances developed in two days. The action genre always seems to end with the hero sending off the crooks to jail, and finally getting a long-awaited kiss from the leading lady. "Beverly Hills Cop," to its credit, manages to avoid this and the result is a far more enjoyable film, even if most of its sequences are far from being 100% realistic.

The film's director, Martin Brest, has a clear handle on the buddy genre and would go on to direct the immensely successful Robert De Niro / Charles Grodin road-buddies-comedy "Midnight Run," one of the most popular (and best) of the genre. Beverly Hills Cop works just as well - it's funny when it needs to be, thrilling when it wants to be, and features a stellar lead performance by Murphy in his most unusual role.

Murphy is the driving force behind the film, presenting us with a truly likable character - the most likable character he's ever played, as a matter of fact. Axel is unorthodox but a generally good guy - Murphy is sometimes typecast into playing roles similar to that of which he played in "48 HRS." (being the loud, obnoxious racist who's got it all together), but here he plays someone we actually want to root for. At one point in the film he manages to get a couple of police officers in trouble with their superior - but he takes all the blame, and actually fabricates a lie wherein they were heroes doing their job, despite the fact that they were all actually hanging out at a strip club. Axel is tough, cool, quick-witted, nice, sarcastic, and likable - one of cinema's most enduring characters, and proof that African-American cinema heroes don't always have to be loudmouths in order to succeed as characters (pay attention, Chris Rock and Chris Tucker).

The now-famous soundtrack (including 'Axel F' by Harold Faltermeyer) is a great blend of techno-pop and electronic rock - the movie's theme is bouncy, rambunctious and fun: a good parallel to Axel himself.

Overall "Beverly Hills Cop" exceeds exceptionally well, even if a great deal of the film's success itself derives from pure accident and chance. I don't think anyone can say that those involved in the production knew exactly what they were doing at the time (DVD supplements include anecdotes about hectic filming and the project almost falling through at one point) -- but as luck would have it everything turned out fine. "Beverly Hills Cop" is an immensely enjoyable film, and one of the best examples of the cop-comedy genre executed properly. October 11, 2008

If only Eddie's movies stayed this way

He would have still had his core audience. Now he does nothing but family-orientated movies. BHC is a classic and probably his best and funniest movie ever. You can never get tired of it! June 16, 2008

Eddie at his action comedy best

Beverly Hills Cop is an example of Eddie Murphy at his best in an action comedy. The film set a new standard for action movies, having a black amercian in the lead role. The film is still noteworthy today as it set the template for Rush Hour and Bad Boys and hopefully one day they make a fourth fulm. March 25, 2008

Eddie plays the police game again!

Saturday Night Live alum Eddie Murphy once again plays the police game in this first of three installments,somewhat similarly to how he did in 48 HRS.. This is one of a multitude of Murphy's films produced by Paramount and also he delighted his fans with other Paramount properties such as TRADING PLACES and BEST DEFENSE(both followed 48 HRS. and preceded this film). In addition to Murphy,director Martin Brest(MIDNIGHT RUN,SCENT OF A WOMAN) worked with other talented actors like Judge Reinhold(THE SANTA CLAUSE,RUTHLESS PEOPLE),Ronny Cox,John Ashton(MR,SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL,LITTLE BIG LEAGUE) and Lisa Eilbacher. Murphy is Axel Foley,a Detroit plain-clothes detective sent to do some work in beautiful Beverly Hills. He joins forces with Officer Billy Rosewood(Reinhold) and Sgt. John Taggart(Ashton). Axel is caught inside of a truck filled with stolen cigarette cartons and in another scene,is thrown by a group of four through a front window. Billy's and John's chief of their precinct is Andrew Boagamil(Cox). The film is filled with great music performed by Glenn Frey,the Pointer Sisters and Patti LaBelle. There's also an awesome instrumental piece entitled AXEL F written by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey and performed by Faltermeyer. The duo later wrote music for the sequel and another Paramount property,TOP GUN. This film was theatrically released in December 1984 when video stores were then only independently operated. Brest later directed Ashton in Universal's MR. February 26, 2008

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