Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Review

"I never been in no cell that had a phone in it. Can I stay for a while, 'cause I ordered some pizza." - Axel Foley.

It's dialogue like the above quip from fast talking Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) that makes Beverly Hills Cop an instant comedy classic. Featuring a cool soundtrack along with action and jokes aplenty, Beverly Hills Cop has a lot to offer, and succeeds on all fronts. Though the sequels weren't as good, nothing can taint the appeal the film still has today, and the character of Axel Foley is by far Eddie Murphy's standout role.

The story follows Axel as he travels to Beverly Hills to investigate business man Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff), whom he believes to be involved with the murder of his friend. Upon arriving, Axel instantly makes an impression with hapless duo Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton) and Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold). Though not getting along at first, the three police officers eventually begin to work together, along with Axel's old  acquaintance Jenny (Lisa Eilbacher), to bring down Maitland. Without even trying, Murphy completely steals the show. His delivery of the one-liners is second to none, but what makes the film even funnier is the chemistry between Axel, Taggart and Rosewood. Axel's non-stop quips combined with the straight faced acting of Ashton and Reinhold is absolutely hilarious. There's such a massive contrast in their approach to police work, and so giving Taggart and Rosewood the task of following Axel to ensure he doesn't cause any trouble makes for all kinds of humorous scenarios. The infamous moment where Axel stops their car by clogging the tailpipe with bananas is still as amusing as it ever was, and the film has one of its best dialogue exchanges when the incident is brought up by two other officers:

Action scenes aren't the focus of Beverly Hills Cop, but I'd still argue that some of it is better than some films in the action genre. Just take the film's opening scene for example. There is a chase between police cars and a truck being driven by a drug dealer. By the end of the chase, there is a massive pileup of cars, and Axel is hanging onto the back of the truck throughout the entire chase! Reportedly, Sylvester Stallone was approached with the script, where upon he rewrote the film into a standard action-fest. Thank goodness that idea never went through, as the minimal action in the film is more than enough to satisfy. The decision to focus more on comedy is a huge advantage for the film, especially when Eddie Murphy is the protagonist. His performance turned Axel Foley into one of the best characters in the history of cinema, whereas I think Stallone's version would become lost in the sea of other similar action roles he has done throughout his career.

There are so many brilliant comedic moments throughout the film, that almost every scene will have you laughing at something. If I had to chose one moment that makes me laugh the most, it would probably be the scene when Axel meets Victor Maitland for the first time. This is one of the more serious moments in the film, as Axel confronts him about his friend's murder. What makes me laugh is what happens next, where Axel is carried out of the room to the ground floor, where he is thrown through the window. It's so unexpected after a moody scene to have a darkly funny moment where a character is roughly ejected from a building. Of course, Axel lands himself in further trouble for "disturbing the peace", and this encounter leads him to learn just how different Beverly Hills police work is to his hometown of Detroit.

Beverly Hills Cop made a star out of Eddie Murphy, and it's clear to see why. The film is relentless in serving up hilarious one-liners, absurd scenarios and has perhaps the best straight-faced acting you'll see in the characters of Taggart and Rosewood. Even after seeing it so many times, it still gets plenty of laughs out of me, and that is a testament to how good the film is. It hasn't aged at all, because the humour is so clever and the acting so good, that anybody is sure to enjoy it. One of my favourite comedies of all time.

Pros:
+ Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley is one of the most loved film characters ever. A show stealing performance.
+ John Ashton and Judge Reinhold are perhaps the best straight-faced duo in any film. Their chemistry with Murphy is second to none.
+ Exciting action set-pieces.
+ Memorable, hilarious and quotable dialogue.

Cons:
- Some clichés, Maitland is a very typical 80's bad guy, and his henchmen are given very little personality.