Review: Original "BEVERLY HILLS COP" is Still Crazy and Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 of 2024 (No. 1972) by Leroy Douresseaux

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Running time:  105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR: Martin Brest

WRITERS:  Daniel Petrie, Jr.; from a story by Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Danilo Bach

PRODUCERS:  Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bruce Surtees (ASC)

EDITORS:  Arthur Coburn and Billy Weber

COMPOSER:  Harold Faltermeyer

Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/ACTION/CRIME

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher, Ronny Cox, Steven Berkoff, Jonathan Banks, James Russo, Stephen Elliot, Gilbert R. Hill, Art Kimbro, Joel Bailey, Bronson Pinchot, Paul Reiser, Michael Champion, and Damon Wayans

Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American buddy-cop film and action-comedy directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy.  This year (2024) makes the 40th anniversary of Beverly Hills Cop original theatrical release (specifically December 1984).  The film was the first entry in what would become the Beverly Hills Cop film franchise.  Beverly Hills Cop focuses on a cocky young Detroit cop who pursues a murder investigation in Beverly Hills where he must deal with a very different culture and a very different police department.

Beverly Hills Cop opens in Detroit, Michigan.  There, we meet Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), a plainclothes police detective.  As the story begins, his unauthorized sting operation goes sour resulting in a disastrous high-speed chase.  Axel's reckless behavior earns him the ire of his superior, Inspector Todd (Gilbert R. Hill), who threatens to fire him unless he changes his ways.

Axel returns to his apartment to find his childhood friend, Michael “Mikey” Tandino (James Russo).  After doing a stint in prison, Mikey got a job as a security guard in Beverly Hills, California via a childhood friend of both Axel and Mikey's, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher).  However, Mikey has gotten into something dangerous, and it costs him his life.

In spite of threats from Inspector Todd, Axel travels to Beverly Hills and visits Jenny at her place of employment, the “Hollis Benton Art Gallery.”  There, he discovers that the gallery's owner, Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff), is involved in something very shady, and that he also likely had Mickey killed.  Meanwhile, Axel runs afoul Lt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox) at the local precinct of the Beverly Hills PD.  Bogomil has two of his detectives,  Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Sergeant John Taggart, trail Axel.  Can the street-smart Axel convince Rosewood and Taggart to help him discover exactly what Victor Maitland is doing?  Or will Axel end up sharing the same tragic fate as Mikey?

It has been well over 30 years since I had watched Beverly Hills Cop in its entirety.  As far as I can remember, I definitely saw it in a movie theater sometime in December 1984, likely with some or all of my sisters.  I may have watched it once or twice more before the 1980s came to an end.  In anticipation of the just released sequel, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (a “Netflix Original”), I decided to watch the first film again.  Just for starters, the film's soundtrack is still perky, although a bit quaint.  Harold Faltermeyer's score, especially the instrumental title tune/theme, “Axel F,” still seems pitch perfect for this movie, as if nearly four decades had not passed.

I wondered if I would like it as much as I did the first time I saw it, and I absolutely loved it back then.  This film made Eddie Murphy, for a few years, the biggest star in Hollywood.  Watching Beverly Hills Cop now, I feel as if I have fallen in love with it again.  Beverly Hills Cop was originally meant to be a star vehicle for Sylvester Stallone and be a straight action film.  Instead, it became an Eddie Murphy star vehicle, and a comic action film that has numerous funny moments, most of them executed by Eddie Murphy.  Here, you can see what made Murphy a transcendent star; he has true movie star qualities and loads of charisma.  Still, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton have their chances to be funny as Rosewood and Taggart, respectively.  Of course, Bronson Pinchot as the museum employee, Serge, steals every scene in which he appears.  He would go on to use this role to launch himself into television stardom.

As funny as Beverly Hills Cop is, it retains some of the edge that was probably in the early versions of its screenplay.  The beginning of the film shamelessly displays the inner city ruins of Detroit.  There are also multiple violent deaths, beginning with Mikey's, but I find that the excellent car chase scenes and gun battles are a bit of pop movie fun that balance out the poverty, deprivation, and violent firearm deaths that pepper this film.

Director Martin Brest, who made a career out of turning plain genre films into something just a bit more special, eagerly keeps his camera on his star.  Brest records every last bit of Murphy's talent, star power, and comedy modus operandi on the way to making Beverly Hills Cop a cop movie like nothing audiences had seen before or have seen since.  In spite of its sequels, Beverly Hills Cop remains one of a kind, and is surprisingly (at least to me) still crazy as heck and funny as hell.

A

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, July 4, 2024

NOTES:

1985 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Daniel Petrie Jr.-screenplay/story and Danilo Bach-story)

1985 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations:  “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Eddie Murphy)

1986 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Score” (Harold Faltermeyer)

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Production Begins on Zach Braff's Remake of "Going in Style"

Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin to Headline Director Zach Braff’s Comedy “Going in Style”

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Production is now underway on location in New York City on the New Line Cinema comedy “Going in Style,” directed by Zach Braff (“Garden State”) and starring Oscar winners Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”), Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules,” “Hannah and Her Sisters”) and Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”).

Freeman, Caine and Arkin team up as lifelong buddies Willie, Joe and Al, who decide to buck retirement and step off the straight-and-narrow for the first time in their lives when their pension fund becomes a corporate casualty. Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, the three risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.

The film also stars two-time Oscar nominee Ann-Margret (“Tommy,” “Carnal Knowledge”) as Annie, a grocery cashier who’s been checking Al out in more ways than one; Peter Serafinowicz (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) as Joe’s former son-in-law, Murphy, whose pot clinic connections may finally prove useful; John Ortiz (“Silver Linings Playbook”) as Jesus, a man of unspecified credentials who agrees to show them the ropes; Joey King (“Wish I Was Here”) as Joe’s whip-smart granddaughter, Brooklyn; Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future” trilogy) as the guys’ lodge buddy, Milton; and Oscar nominee Matt Dillon (“Crash”) as FBI Agent Hamer.

Braff will direct from a screenplay by Theodore Melfi (“St. Vincent”), based on the film by Martin Brest.

“Going in Style” is being produced by Donald De Line (“The Italian Job”). The executive producers are Tony Bill, who was a producer on the 1979 film “Going in Style,” Jonathan McCoy, and Andrew Haas.

The creative filmmaking team includes Emmy-nominated director of photography Rodney Charters (“24”), production designer Anne Ross (“Lost in Translation”) and costume designer Gary Jones (“New Year’s Eve”).

Scheduled for release on May 6, 2016, the film is a New Line Cinema presentation of a De Line Pictures Production. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

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Razzie Worst Picture Winner? "Gigli" is Not that Bad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 120 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gigli (2003)
Running time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
MPAA – R for sexual content, pervasive language and brief strong violence
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Martin Brest
PRODUCERS: Martin Brest and Casey Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit
EDITOR: Julie Monroe and Billy Weber
Razzie Award winner

CRIME/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Lenny Venito, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, and Lanie Kazan

A little more than half way through the year 2003, Martin Brest's (Beverly Hills Cop, Scent of a Woman) Gigli may be the worst reviewed movie of the year, but it is by no means the worst movie I’ve seen this year. Thus far, that would be the dreadful Legally Blonde sequel. Gigli is entertaining and has enough raunchy comedy that I would recommend it to anyone who can stomach something like Pulp Fiction or it’s Baby Gap version, Go. Anyone who is a fan of Affleck or Ms. Lopez shouldn’t miss this for the world. It’s not a matter of the film being that bad, considering that many people will give anything a shot, especially once a movie is on home video, Gigli pretty much runs with the pack in terms of quality (or lack thereof).

Larry Gigli (Ben Affleck) is a lowly thug with a penchant for delivering the pain when his mob boss Louis (Lenny Venito) demands it. He’s assigned to kidnap Brian (Justin Bartha), the mentally retarded brother of powerful federal prosecutor. Louis doesn’t trust Gigli not to screw up the job, so he sends in Ricki (Jennifer Lopez), another contract specialist, to watch over Larry. After some initial hard feelings, Larry falls for Ricki, but when she promptly informs him that she is gay, Gigli realizes that it may be a hard road to travel before he gets in her drawers.

More than anything, I think Gigli’s problems lie in Martin Brest’s script. I don’t at all mind the lewd and crude humor and scenes or the idiosyncratic characters. What I do mind is that Brest’s assumes that all the odd bits should make up for what is essentially a lightweight tale of star-crossed lovers and offbeat characters. In a sense, Gigli and Ricki should easily fall in love – after a period of struggling to accept each other’s oddities, of course. Instead the love story simply stumbles around its own plot twists: Ricki’s gay; she might be interested in men; she thinks Gigli’s in the closet; she really likes him, but she’s just not ready for a man.

Granted that there might be real life situations like this, but drama, art, and fiction should give the audience the payoff that real life will not. Even a love story about two polar opposites is supposed to deliver on the fact that this mismatched pair will eventually match up. Now, one of those “complex, art, awards season” films might get away with keeping the nothing-in-common lovers apart, but Gigli is, regardless of Brest’s intentions, throwaway entertainment. After all, a smart intelligent, Academy Award-genre film doesn’t rely on a mentally handicapped man singing rude rap songs or saying things like, “when my penis sneezes” for laughs.

Gigli wants to be a crime drama, but it’s only superficially so. There is some and crime and some drama, but it’s almost a movie without a genre. What saves Gigli are the often-hilarious lines and scenes, even the goofy ones like, “when my penis sneezes,” or “I tell my penis ‘God bless you’ when it sneezes.” I even enjoyed Ben and Jen playing twister with this crooked love story. Ben ably rises above the material to give a very good performance, only falling short when the script utterly fails him. Jen’s character is a crock, but she tries in spite of her limitations as an actress. Lanie Kazan (in a really low down and common role), Christopher Walken and Al Pacino make the most of their cameos, and Lenny Venito and Justin Bartha give solid supporting performances.

I’d see this again, because I like it in spite of the handicapped script. When it’s funny, it’s outrageous and as raw as anything Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy could deliver in their best days. And at the oddest moments, Gigli is sad, sweet, charming, and endearing. In a season of disposable action movies, Gigli is the odd man out, and worth seeing – either in the theatre or at home.

5 of 10
C+

NOTES:
2004 Razzie Award: 6 wins: “Worst Actor” (Ben Affleck), “Worst Actress” (Jennifer Lopez), “Worst Director” (Martin Brest), “Worst Picture” (Columbia and Revolution), “Worst Screen Couple” (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez), “Worst Screenplay” (Martin Brest); 3 nominations: “Worst Supporting Actor” (Al Pacino), “Worst Supporting Actor” (Christopher Walken) and “Worst Supporting Actress” Lainie Kazan)