Beverly Hills Cop - Movie Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

Boy, looking back at Berverly Hills Cop, almost 20 years after its original release, it's easy to see why people fell in love with the movie, earning a then unheard-of of $316 million worldwide (the highest grossing R-rated movie ever) and propelling Eddie Murphy from a funny ensemble player in films like Trading Places and 48 HRS. to a megastar.

Beverly Hills Cop is actually a bit of a nutty idea -- combine a standard cop actioner with a fish out of water tale. Who would've thought that would be any good? But it works, and how, with Murphy turning in perhaps his funniest performance ever -- mocking the supporting cast at every turn (favorite targets: gay men, uptight men, and gay/uptight men) and tossing off one-liners like he's got a wad of them stuffed in his pocket. His Axel Foley, one of the most widely impersonated characters in film (remember the popularity of the "Mumford Phys. Ed." sweatshirt?), heads from rough-and-tumble Detroit to prim-and-proper Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of his best friend, uncovering a much bigger plot, of course.

Judge Reinhold, as a rather hapless junior cop in L.A., made enough of a mark here to carry a career of duds for a full decade, and the soundtrack, including the ubiquitous instrumental "Axel F," was full of what would become 1980s smash hits. If the plot wasn't such a throwaway, Cop might have stood as one of the greatest action comedies ever made, but it does stand as Murphy's funniest work and the inspiration for dozens of knockoffs (including two throwaway sequels, each worse than the last).

At last, Cop comes to DVD, with commentary by Martin Brest (suitably shocked at his own success), plus a smattering of interviews and other extras. If the comedy doesn't get you, the nostalgia certainly will. Recommended.

Facts and Figures

Year: 1984

Run time: 105 mins

In Theaters: Wednesday 5th December 1984

Box Office Worldwide: $316.4M

Budget: $15M

Distributed by: Paramount Pictures

Production compaines: Paramount Pictures, Eddie Murphy Productions

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 4 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Fresh: 35 Rotten: 7

IMDB: 7.3 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Martin Brest

Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson

Screenwriter: Daniel Petrie Jr.

Starring: Eddie Murphy as Det. Axel Foley, Judge Reinhold as Det. William 'Billy' Rosewood, John Ashton as Det. Sgt. John Taggart, Lisa Eilbacher as Jeannette 'Jenny' Summers, Ronny Cox as Lt. Andrew Bogomil, Paul Reiser as Jeffrey, Steven Berkoff as Victor Maitland, Jonathan Banks as Zack, Maitland's Thug, Bronson Pinchot as Serge, James Russo as Mikey Tandino, Stephen Elliott as Police Chief Hubbard, Gilbert R. Hill as Insp. Douglas Todd, Art Kimbro as Det. Foster, Joel Bailey as Det. McCabe, Michael Champion as Casey

Also starring: Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson