THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If there is one thing I feel like should happen when going to work, have fun. If that is somehow not possible for you, look at Beverly Hills Cop.
PLOT
The 1984 film follows undercover Detroit detective Axel Foley whose recent sting operation goes so awry (due to reckless driving &uniformed cops intervening) it leads to his superior Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R Hill) threatening to fire him if he doesn’t change his ways. When coming home to his apartment, he reunites with his childhood friend Mikey Tandino (James Russo) who served time for theft years prior and is now working as a security guard in Beverly Hills. As they catch up, The reunion would be cut short when Axel gets knocked unconscious and Mikey gets assassinated by two assassins, Zack & Casey (Jonathan Banks & Michael Champion). Upon recovery, Foley wants to investigate the murder himself but Todd refuses due to his ties with Mikey. Under the guise of a vacation, he goes to Beverly Hills and attempts to solve the case himself. He first goes to an art gallery and meets up with another old friend named Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher), who works there under the employment of Victor Maitland. He later goes to Maitland himself to question him about Mikey, but is kicked out for trespassing. When later getting bailed out, he gets followed by Sergeant John Taggart & Detective Billy Rosewood. Although they originally dislike him for being a rule breaker, they come around in respecting him when foiling a robbery at a striptease bar. The following day, Axel sneaks into one of Maitland’s warehouses and not only does he find crates full of coffee grounds (used by smugglers to cover the scent of drugs from police dogs), but also discovers many of them haven’t even went through customs. He gets himself arrested again after confronting Maitland of what he discovered. He does share with Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil that he found evidence of him being a smuggler, but Police Chief Hubbard (Stephen Elliot) orders him to leave town. Rosewood gets assigned to escort him out, but Foley convinces him to pick up Jenny and take her with them to the same warehouse to show the evidence. They do find bags of cocaine in the crates, but it only leads to Maitland abducting Jenny. Foley is able to escape when Rosewood shoots Casey. They follow Maitland to his estate and Taggart tracks them there to join them in the rescue mission. Bogomil would later bring reinforcements to better the odds in an intense gunfight. In the process, Foley gets his revenge in killing Zack and Bogomil shoots Maitland to save Jenny. Bogomil would also fabricate a story to Hubbard’s liking in which it covers all participants on the case without discrediting the department. Knowing his exploits will likely get Foley fired from the Detroit PD, Bogomil promises to smooth things over with Todd and wipe the slate clean. As Taggart & Rosewood pay his hotel bill, the film ends with Foley inviting them to a farewell drink in which they accept.
THOUGHTS
Merging action and comedy is a tough sell because you want to smile when each joke lands but want to be in awe of the serious stakes. Personally, I think Director Martin Brest is able to hit it out of the park because not only is the editing done well to keep each chase and shootout sensational in their own way, but you got a great lead to handle the balance. Eddie Murphy was already establishing himself as an actor thanks to 48 Hours and Trading Places, as well as his SNL tenure, but Axel Foley feels like a whole other ballgame compared to previous roles at that point for him. He’s cheeky when it comes to winning people over, as in show outrage when someone is onto him. He’s even clever when clogging a car with bananas but besides the brains, he has incredible passion when it comes to taking down bad guys. If you’re his friend, he is gonna be unstoppable in terms of avenging you which is exactly what he does for Mikey. The fact he’s able to still smile when being angered/cornered by many aspects he’s dealing with, tells me to always stay who you are when the going gets rough because it makes the tasks worthwhile. Due to how he was still headstrong in wanting to extract justice and nothing more, it’s definitely inspiring when you think about it because he even encouraged others within his line of work to change things up. Ronny Cox made a memorable presence as Bogomil because he’s a by the book kind of cop, which is a good thing because it helps him understand why Foley is doing things the way he does. Realizing how his own strictness makes him very hard headed, he becomes fairly lenient when fabricating the climactic shootout to his own superior and helps Foley keep his job. The other scene stealers that nail the buddy cop atmosphere were Taggart & Rosewood. John Ashton & Judge Reinhold definitely played off of each other very well due to being polar opposites: Ashton makes Taggart the aggressive one who’s still good at heart, where on the other hand Reinhold shows to be the incompetent one until he is called to action. The funniest thing he did was reference the ending to Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid when that’s not really a good example to charge towards the enemy. That only gets topped when he tries telling the remaining freeze twice (once when being shot at and the second when he got reinforcements). With Foley added to the mix, the dynamic felt all the more special because his encouragement for them to lighten up is what led to them remaining by his side until the end. Of course, these newfound friendships would not have been possible had it not been for one mischievous foe. Without exaggeration, I think Steven Berkoff made a solid villain out of Maitland because he’s completely two faced and shameless of his actions until confronted about it, which is what you expect out of any mastermind like him. However long he was running his drug empire, he definitely had a good run until it all came to an end due to his selfishness. Since this film sparked a franchise, it’s a given Foley didn’t stop dealing criminals like him, but it reminded him to always take a stand no matter how untouchable the enemy may appear. Now despite having a blast every time I’ve seen it, there’s still a few things I scratch my head about. Like from the top, how exactly was Foley going to bust the criminals in the opening if he didn’t tell anyone like Todd what he was doing? That is honestly asking to get in trouble when he’d rather avoid it. He’s even lucky he still kept his job when he stole evidence for the same sting he ended up botching. Mikey is also lucky Axel is somewhat lenient of a friend he doesn’t snitch on him about the bearer bonds because any level of a cop should be way more curious about this compared to him. You guys know I hate continuity errors, so I was thrown off big time when there were different angles for the pool table Mikey was playing a bet at. On top of that, no blood splatters when Mikey gets shot. I know technology wasn’t so advanced in the 80s compared to the 21st century, but it’s crazy they didn’t even try to go for any kind of blood bag cued to pop. That made me mad more than the fact Zack didn’t kill Axel when he could’ve done so to ensure no one close would investigate. I mean the guy should’ve done a background check on Mikey’s friends to keep it all under the wraps. There’s even a pen that switches directions on Maitland’s desk between takes which is so damn weird. Speaking of which, I’m surprised Maitland wasn’t pissed when his henchmen threw Axel out the window. That’s a waste of money that didn’t have to be spent because glass windows are expensive as hell. That’s worse than not tailing him after first encounter or even calling the cops and even his lawyer when Axel leads his own raid in the house to save Jenny. Moving on, how did no one notice the wink between Foley and the waiter? I expect Rosewood to be caught up enjoying the food, but it didn’t look like Taggart was buying it so he should’ve said something. And I gotta admit that strip club robbery was doomed from the start whether or nots were already there because it looks like they didn’t know who to rob between the dancers or the customers. Also, I don’t see the point in Axel telling Maitland when he was on to him if he was gonna lead to him arrested again. He could’ve rubbed it in his face after getting legit evidence. Other than that, this movie is still a dope time. In short, Beverly Hills Cop is a classic action comedy for being the right balance on both sides and is recommended for those who prefer such a balance.
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