Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Rated R for a lot of language, some nudity, and its fair share of violence.  This is a subgenre of film that almost doesn't exist anymore.  It's the fact that the movie knows that it's getting an R rating, but doesn't mind being lighthearted the entire time.  Despite the fact that this is a movie about drugs and murder, the film's tone is a lighthearted romp.  Still, you can't deny that the movie has questionable content. The movie really plays it fast-and-loose with homosexual stereotypes. It never gay bashes, but there are moments that seem a little regressive.  I'll say that it has enough questionable content that I was glad that I didn't invite my in-laws for this movie on the big screen.  R.

DIRECTOR: Martin Brest

This will probably be one of those disjointed blog entries.  I have a baby demanding to be held every second today.  The second that she discovers that I'm trying to be mildly productive, she's going to demand that I walk her around the house and play with her.  It's a lot today, so I'm really hoping that I have some time to knock this blog out.  I'm kind of amazed that everyone hasn't seen this movie. Beverly Hills Cop is almost a second tier classic.  It's one of those movies that so many people have seen and could possibly quote, but it might be one of those movies that's vanishing from the cultural zeitgeist.  I mean, it's not shocking why I'm rewatching Beverly Hills Cop.  The new one on Netflix just came out and it's been a minute since I watched this.  The funny thing is, in high school, I probably watched this movie about half a dozen times and the only parts that I really remember were the banana in the tailpipe scene and Serge.  

It's amazing to think that Eddie Murphy is only 22 in this movie.  He was on Saturday Night Live at the age of 19 and he's headlining major franchises when he just learned how to drive.  He doesn't feel 22, by the way.  Something made people age in the '80s.  I'm sure some of you are finishing the sentence with "It's drugs".  You know what?  I don't know what was going on.  I just know that Eddie Murphy doesn't feel like a 22-year-old in this movie.  When he's lauded as one of the best detectives in Detroit, there's a heavy implication that he's been doing this job for some time.  So much so, because he schools Taggart about tricks that drug smugglers use that should be common knowledge for an old fart like Taggart.  Still, this is prime Eddie Murphy.  Eddie Murphy might be having a bit of a renaissance now because he had fallen off the grid for a while with a string of rough films.  But since he came out with Dolemite is my Name, it seems like he's had a return to form with some of the recent releases he's had.  (I hate everything that I just wrote, but this baby is going to demand attention sooner or later.) 

It's kind of hard to criticize Beverly Hills Cop or to look at it objectively.  Beverly Hills Cop is in that '80s action-comedy genre that probably shares some DNA with Lethal Weapon and its ilk.  These are movies that have the cinematic grandeur of a big blockbuster action movie, but with the narrative of something that could almost be improved on the spot.  Really, the meat of these movies is the clever dialogue, the over-the-top scenarios that the protagonist has to overcome, and --ultimately --fun characterization.  These movies live or die on the charisma of the protagonists and Axel Foley is incredibly likable.  Like with Lethal Weapon, Axel is fundamentally down on his luck.  He's a guy who is so good at his job, but is surrounded by incompetents who are stymied by a respect for tradition.  Now, this should be a major red flag for me.  After all, if Axel Foleys existed in real life, I'd probably be marching against people's civil rights being trampled upon in the name of justice.  But these movies make guys like Axel so darned charismatic that we just ignore due process.

That's really the lesson of the film, by the way.  Police procedure and doing things by the book are only in place to protect bad guys.  Lying and ignoring the justice system is the only way to get things done.  It's told through two juxtaposed environments.  With Detroit, there's shortcuts.  Ultimately, though, these shortcuts are done for comfort's sake.  No one really cares about justice.  They just don't want to annoy the higher ups.  Beverly Hills, however, is this bastion of morality.  So much money is thrown at this department that there is an expectation that crime would be non-existent in an environment that everything is done right.  By accident, by the way, this is a movie about privilege.  No one really expects the dirty old Detroit to be getting the job done properly.  (There is some racial coding going on here as well.)  They just don't have the resources, thus there are lowered expectations.  But Beverly Hills finds law enforcement so easy because they've always had resources.  (Again, racial coding going on here.) 

It's weird.  During my heavily conservative high school life (of which I wish I could rewind), I found myself watching Lethal Weapon a lot more.  I know that Murtaugh dealt with racial tension, especially in Lethal Weapon 2, where he fought against apartheid.  But that racial commentary seemed so unifying and safe.  Racism came from South Africa, thus it wasn't an American commentary.  To a better extent, Beverly Hills Cop is a little more critical of American law enforcement.  I'm not giving it any awards.  Let me be clear about that.  This is a pro-law enforcement movie that actually encourages cop to take laws into their own hands.  But Axel, as his characterization dictates, is always going to say what is on his mind.  He drops the n-bomb, accusing these White people of treating him as a second class citizen.  But the most telling is one of the funnier moments in the movie.  Axel Foley is thrown out of a window by the bad guy.  In that moment, he's arrested for disturbing the peace.  Now, there's an actual law being broken by Axel that is never addressed.  He should have been arrested for trespassing.  Okay, but he's arrested for disturbing the peace.  From an initial observation, Axel looks to have been assaulted by having been thrown through a window.  But these rich White police officers see him and blame him for the event.  (Yeah, it kind of is his fault, but that would take a while to deduce for anyone else.) That entire rant?  Pretty great and obviously haunting considering racial tensions with law enforcement.  I gotta give  Beverly Hills Cop the edge over Lethal Weapon.

It's funny to think that this movie is about Axel Foley, a Detroit police detective, only being involved in this case because his criminal buddy (who changed the course of Axel's life) divulged information about current criminal activity.  It seems like that shouldn't have been Mikey's opening line, showing all of these stolen German bearer bonds.  But you know what?  The story couldn't have moved forward.  I read somewhere recently that Murphy didn't care for Beverly Hills Cop III because Axel didn't have skin in the game.  I kind of like that Axel doesn't care that Mikey was a criminal and that he angered his employers.  It makes the movie kind of a bit more dynamic, knowing that Axel can get his hands dirty from time-to-time.  

I don't have a ton of analysis beyond what is here.  This is one of those movies that wears its heart on its sleeves.  While there is some racial commentary and economic commentary, it's all done out of a sense of fluff.  It doesn't make the movie bad.  It does make the movie fun.  But I don't want to diminish the fact that it could make a fun piece of entertainment that isn't devoid of politics.  Instead, it weaves it into the narrative.  Could Beverly Hills Cop been more critical of law enforcement?  Absolutely.  Was that on the shoulders of 22-year-old Eddie Murphy in an era that might not be ready to hear that message quite clearly?  Not really.  It's a good movie that is a little more vapid than it should be.  But that's how these things work.