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But the movie is highly critically acclaimed. It has a 92% on rottentomatoes from critics, where as Flashdance only has a 33%. So I wonder what was so great about 48 Hrs. to get as high as 92.
They threw in a bar scene that was reminiscent of another highly acclaimed movie. It highlighted Murphy's ability to command a scene presence, especially as a newcomer.
You see it in a different light after Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop movies and the overuse of the formula. Some of the later films, such as Lethal Weapon, injected a lot more comedy into the relationship.
Oh okay, I thought it was overused more in 48 Hrs. actually, compared to Beverly Hills Cop. In 48 Hrs. he's getting away with all kinds of things, such as sticking switchblade knives in people's faces to get information, in a public place with all these witnesses as well. So it felt overdone to me.
Where as in Beverly Hills Cop, you don't see him sticking knives in people's faces, like when trying to get a nice room at the hotel, during his comedy act, for example. So I thought that Beverly Hills Cop toned it down by comparison.
Lethal Weapon didn't have scenes in it that absurd either I felt like. I agree that they up the comedy, but there is a difference between comedy and absurd.
Do you ever seek out the original reviews of these films? Read Siskel, Ebert, Kael, etc. That would give you a better idea of why it's viewed the way it was. The reviews would help you more than we can.
Imo, it's not the screenplay, it's Eddie Murphy. He was the breakout of SNL, on top of his career and made himself a movie star based on this performance.
You can't look at it the same way as I could in 1982. I'm the age where I was too young to see Pryor rising, so I guess that Murphy is the equivalent. You, however, are not as likely to be impressed by Murphy bc you've grown up in the Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart era.
Oh okay, I thought it was overused more in 48 Hrs. actually, compared to Beverly Hills Cop. In 48 Hrs. he's getting away with all kinds of things, such as sticking switchblade knives in people's faces to get information, in a public place with all these witnesses as well. So it felt overdone to me.
Where as in Beverly Hills Cop, you don't see him sticking knives in people's faces, like when trying to get a nice room at the hotel, during his comedy act, for example. So I thought that Beverly Hills Cop toned it down by comparison.
Lethal Weapon didn't have scenes in it that absurd either I felt like. I agree that they up the comedy, but there is a difference between comedy and absurd.
It was the '80s. Everything was overdone or getting to that point, with music, cinema and even books.
Music: New wave (ridiculous outfits, feminized dudes) and metal (thanks to momentum from the NWoBHM) were the leading pop-rock genres before hip-hop and rap took the lead.
Movies: Slasher and creature flicks were on the uptick. So were over-the-top actioners that ranged from good (First Blood) to so-bad-it's-good (Invasion U.S.A.).
Fiction: Tolkienesque fantasy was being churned out at a steady clip, and over in the horror realm, a subgenre called Splatterpunk emerged, dubbed "hyperintensive horror with no limits" that took gore to new levels.
48 Hrs. was a Walter Hill movie. Even The Warriors, which he also directed, with its outlandish gangs has layers of subtlety not found in 48 Hrs — the the movie where Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) says he's so good in bed he should have his equipment bronzed.
I got nothing against Eddie Murphy, he's good. I just the script was the problem.
I read Ebert's review, but in his review he mostly talks about how Murphy is so good in the movie, and how he has become a star. He gives the movie 3 and a half stars out of four, but he also says in the script that the plot is nothing to write home about, and the supporting characters aren't given much weight.
So he acknowledges that it's nothing to write home about and is praising the movie completely on the lead actor alone. But I think a good actor needs a good script to work with, and a performance cannot always save a movie where nothing else in it adds up to much.
Oh okay, I thought it was overused more in 48 Hrs. actually, compared to Beverly Hills Cop. In 48 Hrs. he's getting away with all kinds of things, such as sticking switchblade knives in people's faces to get information, in a public place with all these witnesses as well. So it felt overdone to me.
Where as in Beverly Hills Cop, you don't see him sticking knives in people's faces, like when trying to get a nice room at the hotel, during his comedy act, for example. So I thought that Beverly Hills Cop toned it down by comparison.
Lethal Weapon didn't have scenes in it that absurd either I felt like. I agree that they up the comedy, but there is a difference between comedy and absurd.
What about the scene where Mel Gibson tries to buy some drugs and puts on the three stooges act, and then kills all of the bad guys. That scene was completely unbelievable and silly.
The Three Stooges act was designed to distract the suspects so Mel Gibson could pull his pistol out on them by surprise more. He slapped them in the faces in a three stooges way to distract them. However, the way Murphy and Nolte go about things, they are going to get in trouble and ruin their own case, so it's not in their motive to do that.
Gibson was trying to get the upper hand so he can pull the pistol out on them to arrest them by surprise. So his motive made more sense to me.
Plus The Enforcer came out before 48 Hrs., and I felt it did a much better job at the cop buddy comedy genre.
The Enforcer is a fine buddy cop movie.
48 Hrs. is not a fine buddy cop movie. Because it's not a buddy cop movie.
Reggie Hammond is a convict who helps take down another Ganz (James Remar) from his group. Ganz and his big Native cohort Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) are cop killers.
Cates (Nick Nolte), the detective, doesn't like Hammond, and the movie's very clear about that. The two even come to blows in a pivotal scene. Afterward, Cates, who is convinced Hammond is a bucket of lies, wants "the truth" or he's ready to fight again.
P.S. Neither The Enforcer nor 48 Hrs. are comedies. They have jokes, they have humor, but they aren't comedies. For cop comedies: Police Academy and Dead Heat (which is a buddy cop horror-comedy).
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