In Beverly Hills Cop, he plays Detective Axel Foley who is trying to track down the murderers of his friend Mikey - who had stolen some rather dodgy bonds. The chase leads him from his hometown of Detroit into Beverly Hills.
As he isn't licensed to carry out the investigation himself, he must overcome the attentions of the slightly dim, but 'by-the-book', officers in the shape of Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Aston). As Axel starts his investigation by asking his friend Jenny some questions, it seems that her boss, , at the art gallery may not be the clean businessman his image suggests.
With Eddie Murphy in one of his first major roles after appearing from the stand up business, it seemed almost essential that he carved himself a niche in amongst the other 1980's police movies that were cropping up (Robocop, Lethal Weapon). As a result, Beverly Hills Cop was stamped with the trademark Eddie Murphy comedy. Murphy's character, is a suave, but brash police officer and Murphy potrays this excellently.
The one downside from my point of view is that Judge Reinhold didn't make more from his career - besides the follow up Beverly Hills Cop movies. He is offered a number of fantastic one-liners, and he laps them up.
Finally, a special mention should be made to Harold Faltermeyer's iconic soundtrack. Yes, it was remade by Crazy Frog 20 years later, but it's a wonderful piece of electronic music, now immortalised in cinematic history.
Certainly one of Eddie Murphy's better films. Well worth a watch.
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