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 I am a fan of Stallone he would not have had the charisma to pull off this role.
Fresh from a successful stint on Saturday Night live Eddie Murphy was approached for the lead and he snapped it up, and at least two out of the three films in this trilogy were an instant hit.
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 his adored by his Inspector, 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 and his long suffering partner John Taggart. They bounce off each other really well, and I am sure most of the script was ad-libbed. There are some great action sequences as well and director Martin Brest injects a cool suave persona into the film.
This is 80s action nostalgia at its best!
View the trailer
Rating:
(5/5)
Visit the IMDb site for Beverly Hills Cop
Please feel fee to comment on this film, I would love to know what you think and I will do my best to respond!
Brilliant movie. The kind of film you can’t get away with making these days, but fitted in perfectly at the time.
Transports me right back to my childhood.
Never knew about Sly being up for the title role. That would have been gash. Glad he was overlooked.
I’m sure somebody told me that Axel Foley was originally written as a homosexual character, but they revised that for the third movie.
Now that’s trivia!