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Summary It would be very easy to distill Eddie Murphy's career down to before Beverly Hills Cop and after, such was the impact of the 1984 movie. It was, without doubt, one of the most important movies of his career, and the biggest at the box office that year, and it is widely considered among the very best Eddie Murphy movies. But 40 years have passed now, and sometimes it's just as important to revisit classics to remind us all of just what earned them such praise.
Yes, he's more restrained than he was in Delirious, because he had to be, but it's still hard not to watch Beverly Hills Cop as Murphy bending Hollywood to his will. There are flashes of Murphy's "say what he wants" comedy, and most impressively, there's even a meta nod to Murphy's own rising star when he encounters two men walking the streets in the same leather-on-leather costumes he wore in his comedy specials.
Before it, the likes of 48 Hrs and The Blues Brothers had mixed up the two genres to great success, and the former can boast more stylish action sequences, if not more impressive ones. The Blues Brothers' action was more slapstick, and sillier as a result, and Beverly Hills Cop feels like an evolution standing firmly between the two. It's very funny, but its action sequences are also stand outs, and their destructive spirit would escalate with each sequel.
Beverly Hills Cop Is Not Just About Eddie Murphy... Close Beverly Hills Cop is also, of course, an ensemble affair, even if Murphy's presence looms large. Billy Rosewood and John Taggart are as important to the movie's dynamic as the lead. Reinhold plays Rosewood with a delightful naivety with bubbling chaos under the surface that evolves across the sequels into something not untroubling, while Ashton's Taggart is the very personification of curmudgeony conflict.
But Really, Is Beverly Hills Cop Still Great? Legacy has a way of shrouding movies in gloss that overlooks whether they're actually good or not. There's no doubt that Beverly Hills Cop is an important movie: in genre terms, it was foundational; for Murphy, it was transformative; and for a black lead to be in such a prominent project in 1984 is not to be overlooked. But it's also just a great time, even now.
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