Beverly Hills Cop
Racism in all its ugly glory is most likely something that will never be completely erased in this world, but a certain segment of comedians and comedy filmmakers (both black and white) at least at one time were making a concerted, successful effort in disarming the use of racial epitaphs and stereotypes through the use of humor and were actually managing to bring audiences of all colors together to laugh at the general foolishness of these attitudes. The ultimate pioneer for all this of course was Richard Pryor who from his stand up stage work to his co writing on Blazing Saddles (itself an important work in this particular conversation) to his own movie acting roles where he wasnât afraid to allow himself to be the butt of jokes for the sake of the bigger picture. Following in his footsteps was Eddie Murphy, practically still a kid when he started on Saturday Night Live who did not only use his status as a black male to stand out on that show, he embraced it, turning stereotypes inside out with his creation of hilarious characters such as Mr. Robinson, Little Richard Simmons and Stevie Wonder. Moving onto movies was a natural progression for him, co starring with Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs and Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places, but it was in 1984 that he would come up with his best work, ostensibly an action / comedy that not only would be nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar (despite the large amount of improv that was happening on the set) but would also become such a worldwide smash hit and defining film of its generation that Murphy himself would become known as the king of 80s movie comedy (not too shabby considering that he had some stiff competition for that title) and like Pryor before him, completely cross over into having a huge fanbase consisting of both white and black people along with everything in between. Much of the subtext here came not only from the concept (grungy Detroit cop heads to pristinely clean Beverly Hills in order to solve a murder) but also from the casting, as Murphyâs Axel Foley is portrayed as someone whom besides being a black cop in Detroit, also has an assortment of white friends and co workers for whom amongst them absolutely no reference is ever made to either his race nor to the racial differences that they have in general. The opening scene featuring Murphy running an (unauthorized) undercover operation immediately shows him dealing with white criminals (and ad libbing up a storm) before some uniformed cops show up and set off a massive setpiece chase scene. As we come to know his fellow cops (including Paul Reiser), we are soon introduced to his black commanding officer (and implied to be his mentor) in Gilbert R. Hillâs Inspector Todd, ranting and raving up an obscenity filled storm as Hill (in real life an actual Detroit cop who later became Chief Of Police and never acted in anything else except this film and its sequels) nearly steals the movie out from under Murphy right off the bat with his near over the top temper tantrum after Murphyâs undercover assignment is blown. Later on, Murphy is suddenly visited by his white childhood best friend (James Russo) who also happens to be an ex con fresh out of jail who has just spent some time working out in California. But Russo is also an obvious fuckup too based on the way that he acts and the fact that he is carrying some stolen bearer bonds from his time in California before we are also told that as juveniles, Russo had taken the rap for something that both he and Murphy had done which had obviously resulted in saving Murphyâs life and allowed him to become a cop since he didnât have a criminal record over it. Unfortunately after a night out drinking, a couple of thugs (including perennial bad guy Jonathan Banks) suddenly show up, knock Murphy out, and then cruelly tease Russo about letting him off the hook over the stolen bearer bonds before putting two bullets in his head anyway. Afterwards, Murphy convinces his boss to give him some vacation time where he heads out to Beverly Hills, California and based on the scattershot amount of information that his friend had given him before being killed, he goes to work in finding out who was behind it. The early Beverly Hills scenes are where Murphyâs mockingly precise comedic skills come into play (as the whole entire camera and lighting style changes from the Detroit scenes) especially when he goes to check into a busy (and expensive) Beverly Hills hotel in his old, shitty looking blue Chevy Nova, and upon seeing that he is the only black guy in the place, he hilariously secures himself a room after being told that they were full by giving a two minute monologue which ends with him more or less accusing them of racism, made even funnier by the fact that the hotel staff (most likely liberal who would rather slit their wrists than be accused point blank of racism) immediately cave in and give him a room at a reduced rate no less while Murphy laughs his ass off at how easy it was. This is some ballsy, edgy humor here, played off perfectly as being an obvious con job rather than as an angry black man indignantly expressing his displeasure at not being served in a timely manner. Eventually he hooks up with an old female friend (Lisa Eilbacher, a pretty actress who sadly faded more and more into B movie obscurity as her career went on) who had originally gotten the dead friend his job working at the warehouse where he had stolen the bonds from and eventually Murphy goes to work on her boss, a wealthy art dealer (Steven Berkoff, who reportedly hated the movie after he saw it) whom it seems is also smuggling cocaine into the country as well. Through all this, we continuously see Murphyâs improv skills and the way that he would come up with comedy gold by literally just thinking up a bit or a scenario right there on the set and then having director Martin Brest run with it. But the real heart of the movie is derived when Murphyâs efforts cause him to run up against The Beverly Hills Police Department (as embodied by Ronny Cox, Judge Reinhold and John Ashton) whom rather than show aggressive resentment to, he embraces them as his friends and brother officers, eventually finding a way to rope them into helping him on the case despite their better judgment. Reinhold in particular pushed his way onto the A list for his gawky young cop whom it turns out is a crack shot and is also somebody who may just be a little bit too excited about being a police officer. Ashton is the rock of the bunch, getting rubbed the wrong way by Murphy early on but eventually coming to respect Murphyâs detective skills so much that he and Reinhold are willing to risk their own careers in helping him (with Murphyâs completely improvised âsupercopsâ monologue regarding them possibly being the highlight of his own career). And Cox turns out to be that rarest of things, the commanding officer who is NOT portrayed as being an unyielding idiot but rather as a guy willing to sit there and listen to what Murphy has to say about the case and how important it is and even be willing to make the game changing decision to back Murphy up even if it means catching heat from The Chief Of Police (who IS an unyielding idiot). The film does get a little more serious as it goes on, although it should be noted that Berkoffâs villain (keeping in mind that the actor at one time had actually played Hitler) does seem to show more than a hint of annoyance that the person harassing him is a freewheeling black guy as their scenes together are the closest things that come to showing anything even resembling racial tension. But the other characters (including the clean cut and mostly white Beverly Hills PD and Bronson Pinchotâs ridiculous yet overhyped cameo as art gallery employee Serge) all accept him and treat him as a friend and / or an equal without judgment, with the level of respect shown in particular between him and his fellow cops in Beverly Hills as it grows and develops throughout the movie being the thing that helps this remain a classic after all these years, a role that was originally intended for Sylvester Stallone in what would have been a typical âcop who doesnât play by the rulesâ scenario that instead became a showpiece for the off the cuff improv talents of Eddie Murphy (a guy who in real life at the time was so clean cut and drug free that he wouldnât even drink coffee) winding his way through a story that was equal parts exciting, suspenseful and laugh out loud hilarious enough for everyone to enjoy regardless of skin colorâŚ
10/10