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Don't Believe the Hype

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Totally forgotten that "48 Hrs" was Eddie Murphy's debut. The man's acting is so mature and natural, that I would have guessed he had been starring in blockbusters for years, before he made "48 Hrs". Eddie Murphy is really a force of nature: energetic, rude and incredible funny. Unfortunately many movies in his carreer were mediocre, he made 2 movies that really excelled: "Beverly Hills Cop" and "48 Hrs". If you like this movie you WILL love "Beverly Hills Cop" too. These 2 movies have a lot in common, because they are both funny buddy cop movies.What's the story? Thief Eddie Murphy gets temporarily released from jail in order to track down a cop killer. The suspenseful and action packed pursuit of this cop killer is what "48 Hrs" is all about. The cop who accompanies Eddie Murphy on his search is played by Nick Nolte, a smoking, cussing, alcholic cop. Nick Nolte is the other force of nature in this picture. The chemistry between Nolte and Murphy is what makes this movie to die for. A lot of scenes were improvised and that is what makes this movie really special. It is street smart and credible. Serious and suspenseful, but still funny.I can't help but keep comparing "Beverly Hills Cop" to this movie because there is another similarity: the long scenes. It could have been a Tarantino movie where the characters also get plenty of time to talk. Just to talk. It is refreshing to see an action movie that gives its characters the opportunity to interact with eachother. It makes the characters credible. And because both Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte were both at the peak of their carreers while making 48 Hours, it is a contineous joy to see those 2 talents perform excellently."48 Hrs" is really one of the best buddy cop movies I know. I love the photography with the long telelenses shots. I love the hilarious, but still credible chemistry between the actors. It is a classic that I havent seen being made for a while. Truly a movie I cherish...

Hard-nosed cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) finds himself being forced to ask convict Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) for his help in tracking down two violent cop killers. Cates has Hammond on loan to him for 48 hours so it's very much a race against time to track down these murderous punks....48 Hours was the film that kick started Eddie Murphy's acting career and made him one of the most bankable stars of the 1980's. Watching his performance in this film it's very easy to see why; Murphy just had so much energy and was just so much fun to watch that often I could find myself forgiving some of the weaker areas in many of his films. I still liked Murphy in this film and thought he was fun to watch but...I didn't think that much of the story to be honest; it's a rather weak and unfocused affair; the baddies are in the film at the start and then disappear for an hour and then they only show up towards the end to wrap the film up. In the early stages this is OK because it allows for Murphy and Nolte to trade insults and kick off with each other. Like I say this is fun at first, but in mismatched buddy films the characters hatred for one another should form part of the story rather than engulfing the film and sadly the latter aspect is what occurs here. The story has no real depth, the baddies have no development and sadly that means that we're left with nearly 90 minutes of Murphy and Nolte trading insults - like I say it's fun at first, but wears thin.The directing here is also a bit hit-and-miss as well; the film wasn't as action packed as I was expecting and coupled with the rather weak and undeveloped story this was never as good as it could have been. The true selling point here lies with Nolte and Murphy who were both very good and played off one another very well.48 Hours isn't a terrible film by any means and the chemistry between Murphy and Nolte was pretty good. Unfortunately, the director put too much focus on them and not enough focus on anything else. This results in a film that is fun for a while, but does get a little repetitive and tiresome from time to time.

A murderous convict, Albert Ganz (James Remar), with the help of accomplice Indian Billy Bear (Sonny Landham), bursts out of chain gang after killing two guards. The convicts go to San Francisco and grab an old acquaintance, slimy Luther (David Patrick Kelly) and his girl. They want the money that he is supposedly holding, and as insurance hold the sleaze-ball's girlfriend hostage until the cash is delivered. The convicts hole up in a shady hotel and order prostitutes. Meanwhile our hero – cranky, gruff, and tough detective – Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) and two plainclothesmen surge into the hotel room. Nonetheless the situation goes badly for the lawmen as the two cops are killed and the hoodlums escape. At the police station, Cates is given grief by his immediate superior Haden (Frank McRae) who rants and raves (and overreacts in all of his scenes). One of the prostitutes, lovely Lisa (Greta Blackburn) – who earlier had exposed her beautiful breasts – says to a policewoman, "I think he's going to give you guys a hard time." When asked why, she quips, "I just think he likes shooting cops a lot more than getting laid."Determined to track down the two thugs, Cates is forced to turn to convicted thief and hustler Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) for help. Rather easily, he gets Hammond a two-day parole from jail (in his custody) to assist him. Hammond is also after Ganz. Seems these two stole money from a drug dealer several years earlier, and Ganz is determined to grab the whole stash. So the rest of the movie focuses on two mismatched guys – Cates and Hammond – who hate each other. Cates likes to utter racial epithets; Hammond hates cops. Hammond puts it plainly, "We ain't brothers, we ain't partners, and we ain't friends." Over two days though, the two men gradually develop a mutual respect for each other as they traverse various places around town in a convertible Cadillac looking for information that leads to the two fugitives. Near the end there is a thrilling chase and shootout involving a public bus and convertible. The main gripe along the way is this scenario: The fight between the two protagonists in the alley is long and Murphy comes out of it looking a little too good. His suit is hardly ruffled. The much larger Nolte looks worse. Nevertheless, Nolte and Murphy are sensational as a team, as there is great chemistry between them. By the way, this movie is Murphy's debut. On the other side, Remar and Landham play sufficiently psychotic and violent goons. The movie's non-stop sharp dialog and the music of the Busboys are pluses.

Police officer Jack Cates is the only survivor of a cop shooting and to help hunt down the killers collects Reggie Hammond from jail for 48 hours. Hammond is oddly motivated to help as the killer is searching for his stash of cash. Cates and Hammond who have several differences of opinions to work out make surprisingly good partners as they navigate through the city looking for their suspect.....Sadly,this is another one of those movies that has Took me a very long time to see, and I think because of the advent of several movies relying on the buddy/cop sub-genre, this movie has lost a lot in translation to me.Its a simple premise given a little twist, grizzly cop paired up with a big mouthed, cocky prisoner, who has personal issues with the killers.And in found when watching this,just how uncomfortable Murphy looks in his debut, and the biggest problem? He's just not funny, and the humour consists of either derogatory jokes about women, or just downright racist abhorrence.It may have been just acceptable back in 1982, but now its tiresome stuff, and it just feels like a cheap shot for even cheaper laughs.Nolte is perfectly fine as the by the numbers cop, and as I've said before, Murphy looks uncomfortable, and doesn't have the swagger he has in his more successful films. And thanks to the score, if you close your eyes, you'd be forgiven if you think you were watching Commando, or vice versa.Hill is a competent director, and Silver an amazing producer, but it's just too bland, and honestly.........I prefer the sequel....