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Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
1984 | Action, Comedy, Mystery
Strange to think that if things had been different Sly Stallone could have taken the role of Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop, thankfully he didn’t! As much as I am a fan of Stallone he wouldn’t have had the charisma to pull off this role with the wise-cracking appeal that Eddie Murphy had.

Fresh from a successful stint on Saturday Night live Eddie Murphy was approached for the lead role and he snapped it up and at least two out of the three films in this trilogy were an instant hit. There are rumours of a fourth which streaming giant Netflix may well get involved with but we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Murphy uses the film as a blank canvas to display his comedic genius and thrives in front of the camera. Axel Foley is a quick-witted Detroit detective who lets his mouth do all the talking. He’s adored by his superior, Inspector Todd but at the same time, Todd feels as though Foley’s talents are wasted.

When his childhood friend is murdered he heads to Beverly Hills to hunt down the killers. He is supported by an accomplished cast including Judge Reinhold, Ronny Cox and John Ashton.

The on-screen chemistry is hilarious between Foley, Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and his long-suffering partner John Taggart (John Ashton). They bounce off each other well and I am sure most of the script was ad-libbed. If you look at one scene during the ‘super cop’ bit John Ashton finds it very hard to keep it together.

There are some great action sequences including the final shoot out and director Martin Brest injects a cool suave persona into the film – this is 80s action nostalgia at its best.
  
American Hangman (2019)
American Hangman (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama, Thriller
President Snow impeached by Pete Campbell
349. American Hangman. A Canadian film, shot in Missouri. It begins with two guys waking up in a basement after being kidnapped. One of them comes to the conclusion that they are in a situation similar to 'that movie with the hacksaw' and that it was 'crap', you may recognize this actor from the film Jigsaw, and unfortunately for his character, Ron, its kinda true... The other guy, played by Don Sutherland, is Judge Straight, a title, not like Judge Reinhold. :) And finally, the kidnapper. His name is Henry and he has an ax to grind with the judicial system, and he's a wiz with that whole internet thing the kids are talking about these days, so he decides to hold Judge Straight accountable for a case he presided over in which a man was convicted and put to death for the kidnapping and murder of a 14 year old girl, a case Henry feels the man was wrongly convicted, and broadcast it on the internet and the public gets to vote guilty or not guilty. Is there a twist, of course there is! And its a pretty sweet one, tho perhaps predictable. Its not going to win any awards for best acting, Vincent Kartheiser was cool as Henry, and I was satisfied with its conclusion. A film that also makes you say, well, he has a point... And poor Ron, he was just there as a prop to prove a point, oh well. Filmbufftim on FB.
  
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
1984 | Action, Comedy, Mystery
Axel Foley
If you were to look up the phrase "fish out of water movie", this film would have to be one of the top movies on the list.

After a Detroit police's officer's friend is murdered, he relocates himself to Beverly Hills, California to investigate only to discover law enforcement operates under quite different principles out there.

Alhough Eddie Murphy had made both "48 Hours" & "Trading Places" before this film was released in 1984, this one was definitely his breakout hit.

His crass, foul demeanor juxtaposed against the prim and proper by-the-book procedureness of the CA cops lent itself to many hilarious and memorable moments. His partners Judge Reinhold and John Ashton worked extremely well with Murphy who had really come into his own as a leading man comic actor for this role.

Still one of my all-time favorite comedies.