This is the deal: I own around 350 movies on DVD and Blu-ray. Through June 10, 2015, I will be watching and writing about them all, in the order they are arranged on my shelf (i.e., alphabetically, with certain exceptions). No movie will be left unwatched . I welcome your comments, your words of encouragement and your declarations of my insanity.
Movie #29: Beverly Hills Cop
Whenever I think about Beverly Hills Cop, I think of the second one. I’ve always thought I liked it more, but really I think it’s just that I probably saw that one first. It came out in ’87, when I was 12, whereas this one came out in ’84, when I was 9. So it follows that I likely didn’t see the first one until after I saw the second. (On that note, what kind of parents let a kid see the second movie in a series before the first? That’s got to be some kind of child abuse, right?)
The first thing I noticed on this viewing was that it was made in association with Eddie Murphy Productions. That’s pretty striking. Nowadays, actor-owned production companies are a dime a dozen, but back then I think it was still incredibly rare. Probably especially so for black actors. I realize Murphy had been in the huge hits Trading Places and 48 Hrs. by this time, not to mention being one of the breakout stars of Saturday Night Live, but I still feel like having his own production company was a pretty big deal — one that I never hear about, despite it being active in the business throughout those final fifteen or so years of the twentieth century.
This movie is really Murphy at the top of his game. I’ve grown a more objective eye over the years and can tell this is really the stronger of the two good Beverly Hills Cop movies (never acknowledge that there was a third — it never happened). He’s honed his acting skills enough that he sells his role well, but still is given enough room to spread his wings and do some of his easy comedy and character work. It’s not gimmicky at this point; it’s still fresh and funny and new, not overdone.
There’s more police work in this one, too. He’s new in Beverly Hills and the cops here don’t know him, so he has to prove himself trustworthy. Even Jenny, his friend from childhood who knows him well, is skeptical of his suspicions, so he has to work angles and find clues. The audience already knows he’s right, because we were witness to the murder of his friend by Maitland’s lackey (an almost unrecognizable Jonathan Banks, because he is so young here), but the other characters don’t and it’s nice to see Murphy as Axel Foley really work for it here.
The comedy in this one is better too — better balanced with the action, and stronger on its own. There are so many iconic moments here: getting thrown out of the window, claiming to have Herpes Simplex 10 at the Harrow Club, the entire scene at the strip club (chair dancing, claiming club soda will make him throw up, noticing the guys casing the joint, everything “Phillip,” and the wide grin with the “Okay” hand gesture after he disarms the guy), THE BANANA IN THE TAIL PIPE, and everything Serge. And there are small things to enjoy, too, like Damon Wayans as the gay hotel buffet steward who sneaks Foley some bananas, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) being like a wide-eyed kid detective who hates machine guns, Taggart (John Ashton) bringing real tension to his early scenes with Foley, Bogomil (Ronny Cox) lying his ass off to the chief about the massive shootout at Maitland’s, and the completely underappreciated Gilbert R. Hill as Inspector Todd, who is strong, loud, authoritative, hilarious, and takes none of Foley’s shit.
It’s a great movie, and it holds up really well over time. I’ve watched it a bunch of times over the years, and it never gets old. Neither of them do.
Actually, as I sit and think about it, Beverly Hills Cop II is almost a carbon copy of the original. But we’ll get to that later tonight.
Viable Option 