'Beverly Hills Cop'
Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan and 'The New York Times''s Wesley Morris head to Beverly Hills to solve the murder of their childhood friend as they rewatch the 1984 comedy, 'Beverly Hills Cop,' starring Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, and John Ashton.
Cast
Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley
Judge Reinhold as Detective Billy Rosewood
John Ashton as Sergeant Taggart
Lisa Eilbacher as Jenny Summers
Ronny Cox as Lieutenant Bogomil
Steven Berkoff as Victor Maitland
Jonathan Banks as Zack
James Russo as Mikey Tandino
Bronson Pinchot as Serge
Paul Reiser as Jeffrey
Directed by: Martin Brest
Written by: Daniel Petrie Jr.
Music by: Harold Faltermeyer
Notes
- Highest grossing movie of 1984 – still the #1 comedy of all time by adjusted gross numbers.
- Was the highest-grossing R-rated film for 19 years until The Matrix Reloaded in 2003.
- Eddie Murphy was 24 and got the part just two weeks before filming started.
- Originally written for Sylvester Stallone, who rewrote it as a straight action film with an opening inspired by Saving Private Ryan's Normandy beach landing.
- Mickey Rourke signed a $400,000 holding contract then left the project. Scorsese was offered the director's chair.
- Got nominated for Best Screenplay despite most of it being Eddie Murphy's improvisation.
- Director Martin Brest said 'every time we got in a jam, I turned to Eddie and said can you come up with something? And every time he came up with something, knocked me to the floor'.
- The original ending had Axel going home, opening a closet to find Mikey's shirt hanging there, and sniffing it.
- The Victor Maitland mansion was reused in 'Commando' a year later.
Categories
Quote from Rog's review:
“Eddie Murphy looks like the latest victim of the star magic syndrome, in which it is assumed that a movie will be a hit simply because it stars an enormously talented person.”
Ebert said 'Eddie Murphy looks like the latest victim of the star magic syndrome in which it is assumed that a movie will be a hit simply because it starts an enormously talented person.' Bill's response: 'Guess what, Rodge? That's exactly how it is.'
Axel arrives in Beverly Hills and checks into the hotel – the Rolling Stone/Michael Jackson monologue. Then the sequence of visiting Jenny Summers and meeting Serge. The banana in the tailpipe. The strip joint scene leading to the 'super cop' monologue where everyone is cracking up. Also the ending action at Maitland's mansion.
Lisa Eilbacher / Jenny Summers – multiple hosts still in love with her decades later. Taggart and Rosewood's chemistry, which lays the groundwork for their performances in 'Beverly Hills Cop II'. The 'first team' banana in the tailpipe guys. The soundtrack: Axel F, The Heat Is On, Neutron Dance, Stir It Up, Nasty Girl. Eddie's cropped sweatshirts. The title itself.
The first 19 minutes could zip by faster. 1984 stunt work – a guy gets punched and a different man flies through a window. Steven Berkoff's reaction to Mikey's death is terrible. Maitland's bodyguards are all incompetent. The homophobia (the herpes simplex/Hepatitis B scene) is there but less egregious than remembered. Magazines substituting for mobile phones.
Stallone was signed, rewrote it as straight action with an ending where he drives a Lamborghini down train tracks at a freight train, then left over budget disputes and orange juice demands. Mickey Rourke signed a $400K holding contract then bailed. Scorsese was offered the director's chair but was 'bewildered by the script.'
Jonathan Banks is first-ballot hall of fame 'that guy' – from Wise Guy and 'Beverly Hills Cop', nobody knew his name for 20 years until Breaking Bad made him Jonathan Banks. Ronny Cox had a great run: 'Vision Quest', 'RoboCop', 'Total Recall'. James Russo is the winner – can't name another thing he's been in. Michael Champion (the slimy sidekick to the heavy) was in everything in the '80s.
Bronson Pinchot as Serge – two scenes, knocks them out of the park, and gets a sitcom (Perfect Strangers) out of it. The biggest Dion Waiters success story they've probably ever had. Like Flip Murray's 13-game stretch turning into a five-year deal.
Michael Eisner claimed he came up with the idea from a 1975 speeding ticket. Don Simpson also claimed a 1977 idea about a cop from East LA transferring to Beverly Hills. The 'Axel F' theme reached #3 on Billboard. Shawn Ryan (The Shield creator) tried to make a 'Beverly Hills Cop' TV show in 2008 on CBS. The Maitland mansion was also used in 'Commando'.
Eddie Murphy – 100%. SNL, 48 Hours, 'Trading Places', 'Beverly Hills Cop' was a four-year run that's the best three-year run by a funny person ever. Lisa Eilbacher ('Ill-Backer'). Harold Faltermeyer. Kent cigarettes. Helicopters. 'Beverly Hills Cop' is essentially the end of a phase for Eddie – everything after feels more self-conscious.
Mikey's plan to steal German bearer bonds from a warehouse was dumb and he tells a cop about them 30 seconds into seeing him. Jenny Summers' lifestyle doesn't match an art gallery manager salary – she might have been a drug dealer. Axel's beater car couldn't have made the Detroit to LA drive. The strip joint has no security checking for guns.
Was 'Beverly Hills Cop' 2 better? (It's a better-made movie but BHC1 means more for the Eddie arc.) Was Axel Foley gay? Long discussion: no romantic interest in Jenny, the intense emotional Mikey relationship, the original ending with Mikey's shirt, no love interest in any version of the script. Wesley Morris argues this is a movie about a gay black man whose former lover gets killed.
Eddie Murphy. Also Lisa Eilbacher. Ronny Cox and Don Simpson get mentions.