Beverly Hills Cop (M)
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★★★ (Blu-ray)
At heart, this is a fish-out-of-water story. Maverick Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) travels to Beverly Hills to look into the murder of an old friend and finds himself at odds with the local police, who don't appreciate his freelance investigation or his freewheeling methods. But, of course, he eventually proves he's right.
Murphy showed he could carry a movie on his own with this 1984 hit – wow, 30 years! – but it's a bit of a mishmash of elements. As the special features tell us, it was going to be a vehicle for Sylvester Stallone, and the change to Murphy led to some rewriting – to accommodate his fast-talking, wise-guy comedy – but not really enough. The film is part satire, part action comedy, part violent crime story, but the parts don't always gel and Murphy's self-congratulatory air can become a little grating.
Still, there are some funny scenes, good supporting performances by John Ashton and Judge Rheinhold as the cops assigned to keep an eye on Foley, and a couple of memorable tunes in the song The Heat Is On and the instrumental Axel F.
The Blu-ray has a decent array of special features including a commentary by director Martin Brest, documentaries and a trailer.