BEVERLY HILLS COP

(December 1984, U.S.)

Can you remember when Eddie Murphy movies used to be FUNNY?? Yeah, me neither. Well, barely anyway. From 1982 through 1988, it seemed the man could do no wrong. I even thought his guest appearance in the flop, BEST DEFENSE (1984) was pretty damn funny. Then somewhere around 1989, when he tried his hand at directing HARLEM NIGHTS, things started to go wrong. When he became a daddy and started doing all those family films, things got even worse. Despite BOWFINGER (1999) having some decent moments, I haven't really liked any of Eddie Murphy's movies since COMING TO AMERICA in 1988. For the record, I am NOT counting his voiceover work in SHREK. As far as I'm concerned, voiceovers for computer animated films is an entirely diffrent ballgame.

But let's concentrate on BEVERLY HILLS COP right now, which many would consider the brightest moment of Eddie Murphy's film career. The premise of a badass Detroit cop trying to solve the murder of his best friend while blending in and functioning in "ritzy-titzy" Beverly Hills seems perfect for a character like Murphy. It is perfect and very, very damn funny! Murphy is (or was) a comedic actor with the right attitude and personality where nearly everything he said or did was funny. From his time on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and the early films he made, the entire decade of the 1980's was the time of Eddie Murphy.

Still, it’s always a pleasure to look back at an era when Eddie Murphy did what he did best: playing a shrewd, quick-thinking wise-ass talking, foul-mouthed jerk from an out of town ghetto environment who knew just what he was doing and just how to handle himself among the Beverly Hills rich and snobbish in two great films (BEVERLY HILLS COP III was terrible!). Were BEVERLY HILLS COP a film that took place in the ‘1930s or ‘1940’s, then Eddie’s performance might have easily been compared to the same sharp and cocky attitude displayed by legends as Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney. That may be a stretch, of course, because Eddie was surely no Bogart or Cagney. He was, however, an icon in his own right because he knew just how to use his anti-establishment personality to make us laugh just when we needed it. I miss that. I’m sure we all miss when Eddie Murphy movies used to be funny!

By the way, have you ever forgotten that killer soundtrack? Glenn Frey's "The Heat is On" still rocks today and have you not ever found yourself occassionally humming the "Axel F." keyboard theme to yourself when no one is listening? Okay, neither have I, at least not until I recently watched BEVERLY HILLS COP again for this post.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Maitre D: "May I help you?"
Axel Foley (very effeminate voice): "Yes. I'm lookin' for Victor Maitland."
Maitre D: "Uh, you realize this is a members-only club?"
Axel: "Hmm-mmm, but I have to talk to Victor. It's very, very important."
Maitre D: "Are you sure it's Victor Maitland you want?"
Axel: "Oh, yes, Victor Maitland, the grey-haired gentleman, very dark skin, Capricorn...Victor."
Maitre D: "Um, well why don't you give me the message and I'll take it to him."
Axel: "Okay, I guess I can do that. Um, tell Victor that Ramon - -the fella he met about a week ago? - -tell him that Ramon went to the clinic today, and I found out that I have, um, Herpes Simplex 10, and I think Victor should go check himself out with his physician to make sure everything is fine before things start falling off on the man."
Maitre D: "Uh, perhaps YOU'D better tell him that."
Axel: "You know, I think that would be best."
Maitre D: "So do I."