Beverly Hills Cop  

By Tom Keogh

While its sequels were formulaic and safe, the first Beverly Hills Cop set out to explore some uncharted territory, and succeeded. A blend of violent action picture and sharp comedy, the film has an excellent director, Martin Brest (Scent of a Woman), who finds some original perspectives on stock scenes (highway chases, police rousts) and hits a gleeful note with Murphy while skewering L.A. culture. Good support from Judge Reinhold and John Ashton as local cops not used to doing things the Detroit way (Murphy's character hails from the Motor City). Paul Reiser has a funny, brief moment at the beginning, and Bronson Pinchot makes a hilarious impression in a great, never-to-be-duplicated scene with the star.

Academy Awards

Beverly Hills Cop received Academy Award nominations for Writing (Best Screenplay written directly for the screen; Daniel Petrie, Jr., Danilo Bach).

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