Um Tira da Pesada

Martin Brest has only made five feature films (Going in style, BHC, Midnight run, Scent of a woman, and Meet Joe Black), films strikingly different from one another, but that all share certain traits. They are finely crafted, energetic, and extraordinarily human. The warmth and friendship shine through, even through the gun- and fist-play which are obligatory in a cops-and-robbers movie. This is one of the first and best prototypes of the buddy movie.

Brest's casting is superb, and he elicits performances which are often the best of even young actors' careers. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, and Ronnie Cox are outstanding, and the ensemble clicks like a well-oiled infield. To me, this movie is still far and away Eddie Murphy's best performance. He is remarkably talented, a comic genius. As an actor, his expressions are sometimes outlandish, but always completely in character, and appropriate to the dramatic situation. Villain Victor Maitland (played by Steven Berkoff, the husband of Alberta Watson, Madeline in La Femme Nikita) is chillingly underplayed; the cold-blooded evil shines through the civilized facade.

BHC is one of the few movies which I can watch with my loved ones again and again and never tire. Even as a comedy, it has a solidness and integrity which make it extremely durable. I look forward eagerly to Martin Brest's next film. Meanwhile, I always have Beverly Hills Cop.

BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984) ***1/2 Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, Ronny Cox, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot. Murphy, hot off his debut in `48 HRS' wisely continued to ride his rising star in this his first starring vehicle, tailor-made for his fast-talking, fun-loving, street-smart persona as Detroit undercover cop Axel Foley in this blockbuster hit who heads to posh Beverly Hills to investigate the murder of a good friend mixed up in a drug smuggler's art dealer front headed by equally good friend Eilbacher, and faster than you can say fish-out-of-water he's rousted by Beverly Hills finest, Ashton and Reihold – a modern day Laurel and Hardy if you will, only to continue to fluster as he tries to unearth the muck in the richest city in America. Pinchot steals the show as the effete, espresso hawiking art shop clerk Serge. Lots of laughs and a good blend of action (this was once earmarked for Sylvester Stallone!) and sprinkled with pop tunes that led to an even bigger soundtrack goldmine. Waycool instrumental theme music via Harold Faltemeyer.

Eddie Murphy became a true bankable superstar with "Beverly Hills Cop". The film is an unconventional detective story that has Murphy, a Detroit police officer, go to Beverly Hills after his close friend is killed. Murphy wants to find out who killed his friend and why. What he discovers is one of the largest illegal drug fronts around in an art museum. Now it is up to Murphy to bring down the bad guys and save the day. "Beverly Hills Cop" is a film that showed the greatness of the 1980s. A pop-culture, box office hit that was funny and full of action and sported a smashing soundtrack. A nice film that is one of the most memorable money-makers of the decade that was the 80s. 4 stars out of 5.

This film came out, Eddie Murphy's star was still rising and this pretty much was the pinnacle of his career. This film is a funny, fast paced, action filled fun ride and Murphy really made the film an enjoyable experience. Thank God that Sylvester Stallone backed out because I feel the film would have been a very dark intense film. At least Murphy made Axel into a smart aleck who helped to lighten the mood of the film. Also, the one underrated performance has to have been Judge Reinhold. Reinhold makes an art of playing slightly goofy out of it characters and his portrayal of Detective Billy Rosewood was a perfect example of that and John Ashton was the perfect foil as Taggart. This is definitely one of the top films of the 1980's

A fun and excellently directed film with the great Eddie Murphy in the lead role.

This film is a true product of its time, a time when directors and writers tried to provide the viewer with good entertainment.

The characters are fun, likeable, and the humor is not forced, but naturally funny. Eddie Murphy is funny and he does a great job in this role. But other characters are also fun and human, Taggart, Billy Rosewood, Lt. Bogomil, they are all interesting. The villains are also fun and the actors did a great job.

The film is practically a crime story with a large dose of humor and action. Back then, they knew how to make a fun movie.

The soundtrack is great and shows what the music means to the film. The direction is also excellent and the action scenes are fun.

Eddie Murphy elevates every film with his persona, and when he has a good script and a good director, then films like this are created.

An excellent and above all entertaining film from a time when films were made to entertain.