Watching it in 2023, one might find themselves a little baffled as to why Martin Brest’s 1984 crime comedy “Beverly Hills Cop” was such a massive success.
Made for a modest $13 million, “Beverly Hills Cop” caused a sensation, earning over $234 million domestically which is, when adjusted for inflation, closer to $700 million.
It made Eddie Murphy a household name and more or less codified an emerging genre of R-rated buddy cop movies that would remain ascendant throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s.
The success of “Beverly Hills Cop” might confuse people, however, as it seems wildly basic these days.
The jokes are not particularly funny, and while Murphy is as charismatic as they come, his Snobs vs.
Slobs shtick seems trite and tired.It seems that “Beverly Hills Cop,” however, was merely outstripped by its imitators.
In the wave of imitators that spawned, filmmakers pushed the action and the humor to higher and higher degrees,…
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