Thursday, September 25, 2008

Blast From The Past #3

Welcome to the third installment of "Blast From The Past". There was a time when Eddie Murphy ruled movies. His first two films, "48 Hrs" & "Trading Places" were both solid hits, then he hit the pinnacle of his movie career with 1984's "Beverly Hills Cop". The story of a streetwise, wisecracking Detroit police officer tracking his best friend's killers in Beverly Hills was a perfect vehicle for Murphy, who had so many great years on "Saturday Night Live" and already had two great movies under his belt. It's hard to believe that the part of Axel Foley was first offered to Sylvester Stallone, because I cannot see anyone but Murphy as Foley, because he is why the movie works. The story itself is your typical fish out of water tale, but it is Murphy and his portrayal of Foley that make you look past the standardizations of the movie. It's his charm that gets him by, along with his wit, and his crazy con man antics . Who can forget the great scene when Foley first meets Bronson Pinchot's Serge at the art gallery ("And what it's pertaining" Serge asks him when requesting to see his old friend Jenny). Foley arrives at a Beverly Hills hotel, claiming to be a reporter from Rolling Stone, conning his way into getting a room in a seemingly full hotel. Inspector Rafferty, US customs service, who he claims to be to investigate a suspicious warehouse. So many great funny moments in this movie, I could go on and on about them. I have always said a true test of a movies durability is its ability to be timeless, and this is definitely one of those movies. I can watch it anytime and still laugh at everything I laughed at before. This is also a perfect example of a movie that was not made with the notion of a sequel in mind, yet when the inevitable sequel did arrive, it was, in my opinion, just as good as the first one. Sadly, the third installment took a nose dive into god awful territory. There is a fourth installment in the works, but I don't have high hopes for it at this point, as Eddie Murphy's movie career is not exactly what you would call in good standing right now. I hope it is good, because #3 was an abomination. Regardless of how #4 turns out, there will always be what should be considered a gold standard for action comedies, if you haven't seen it, see it, and if it's been a while, rent it and remember how great Eddie Murphy once was.

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