Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

It seems like the movies and TV shows present us with two extremes when it comes to law enforcement.  There are the straight-laced, by-the-book officers that play within the rules.  They don’t get much grief from their superiors and occasionally get results.  Axel Foley isn’t that kind of police officer.  He’s the kind of guy that would take evidence and use it to catch some more bad guys.  In the first few minutes of the movie, his bust goes bad and he watches as his evidence (cigarettes) falls off the back of a truck while his suspect manages to use said truck to destroy half the cars in Detroit.  (I’ve always felt bad for anyone that had to find their car in ruins with no idea of what actually happened.)  This doesn’t go over well with his boss.

When Foley gets back to his apartment, he finds that Mikey Tandino has broken in and made himself at home.  Fortunately, Mikey is an old friend.  He’s just been released from prison and already has a job as a security guard out in Beverly Hills.  The thing is that he’s stolen some bearer bonds from his new boss.  Mikey gets himself killed right outside of Foley’s apartment.  This really doesn’t go over well with his boss.

Foley offers to take some time off, even if it means saying that he’ll in no way investigate his friend’s death.  So, of course Foley begins not investigating his friend’s death in Beverly Hills.  He even manages to shoehorn himself into a booked hotel.  Unfortunately, he’s not so lucky with Mikey’s boss, Victor Maitland.  Two minutes together and Maitland has Foley escorted out the lobby window.  This, in turn, attracts the local police, who arrest Foley.

Foley knows that Maitland is up to something.  Fortunately for Foley, a mutual friend of his and Mikey’s works for Maitland and can get him in to otherwise restricted areas.  Take, for instance, Maitland’s warehouse, where Foley finds ground coffee.  Normally, coffee wouldn’t be suspicious except this is a holding area for items that are supposed to be going through customs.  This probably means drugs.  The trick is proving it without getting thrown back in jail.

I remember someone talking about the TV show Frasier.  I think it David Hyde Pierce.  He was saying that if an actual psychiatrist did one tenth of the things that Frasier did, they’d lose their license and be thrown in jail.  Most of what happened was played for comedic effect.  Similarly, most of what Axel Foley does is to play off of the local detectives, Rosewood and Taggart.  Rosewood and Taggart are by the book and seem to only get in trouble because of Foley.

Speaking of which, I could never figure out why Alex Foley took Taggart and Rosewood to the strip club.  For those that haven’t seen the movie, I’m about to give away some minor spoilers, so you may want to skip this paragraph.  In one scene, Foley, Taggart and Rosewood are sitting in a strip club, which they went to at Foley’s insistence.  While there, two men rob the strip club.

I could never figure out if Foley somehow knew that this was going to happen or if it was dumb luck.  Why would Foley, who had never been to the area, chose a strip club that was out of the detective’s jurisdiction?  They still refuse drink, as they’re on duty.  Ok.  They probably don’t have many strip clubs in Beverly Hills, but if Foley wanted to make them uncomfortable, he probably could have found something closer.   Did Foley somehow get a tip that was later cut from the movie?  Was he giving Taggart and Rosewood two arrests to make them look good?  Was it just coincidence?

I also tend to find scenes like this movie’s opening scene to be excessive.  We have a truck crashing into pretty much every car it comes across, causing all sorts of damage.  There’s even an explosion.  I always imagine some poor guy coming out and finding his car smashed and he wouldn’t even know how it happened.  This is to say nothing of someone having something important, like their lunch, in the car.  Also, with all the cigarettes falling off the back of the truck, there’s a possibility that some kid will come across a pack or two and keep them for personal use.

It had been a while since I thought of the movie.  It started coming into rotation on Comedy Central, but would usually start just before I had to leave for work.  Because it’s available on Netflix, I was able to watch it when I wanted to and without commercials.  It’s a fun movie that was definitely a product of the 80s.  The only thing that I would say is dated would be the Michael Jackson references. A few times, we see people wearing the distinctive clothes that he made popular.  Other than that, it’s mainly the look of the movie and the appearance of Bronson Pinchot as Serge.  Most people today wouldn’t recognize him as Balki Bartokomous.  Overall, it’s a fun movie to watch.


IMDb page

Bowfinger (1999)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.


Sometimes, it takes a lot of determination to do what you want to do.  Robert K. Bowfinger (played by Steve Martin) wants to produce a movie and he has determination to spare.  What he doesn’t have is a good script, cash, or enough talent to go around.  One day, Bowfinger’s accountant/receptionist, Afrim, comes up with a script for a movie called Chubby Rain.  (The premise is that aliens come down in rain drops, making them bigger than normal.)

Now, Bowfinger has the script, but he still faces all of the other problems.  To add to his troubles, he can only get in with a studio if he gets Kit Ramsey (played by Eddie Murphy) to star in his movie.  Ramsey is the biggest star in Hollywood.  There’s one small catch: Ramsey doesn’t want to do it.  That’s no problem.  They’ll just film Ramsey without his knowledge.  After all, Bowfinger says that Tom Cruise didn’t know he was in Interview with the Vampire for several years.

So, now, Bowfinger has to lie, cheat and steal his way through the movie.  The only other person that knows what’s going on is Dave and that’s primarily because Dave has a small job at a big studio.  Thus, he can ‘borrow’ equipment.  Bowfinger also ‘borrows’ a credit card from one of the actors to rent or buy equipment.  Since no one else knows that Kit Ramsey isn’t actually involved in the project, Bowfinger has to invent a story as to why Ramsey isn’t to be approached for any reason.

The biggest obstacle is getting the shots of Ramsey where his character has to do something that he wouldn’t normally do.  For this, they hire a look-alike named Jiff.  (Jiff is also played by Eddie Murphy.)  Jiff’s primary job will be to do errands, which he says would be a big boost for him.  When the time comes, he’ll have to do several scenes in Ramsey’s place.  (One of the funniest scenes is the highway scene.  This alone is worth getting the movie.)

Since Bowfinger is a comedy, you have to know that the movie will work out in the end.  Yes, there are major hurdles, setbacks and obstacles, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.  When I had seen the movie, I hadn’t yet really heard of Ed Wood, but for those that know about Wood, you may notice some similarities.  Wood was known for making below-par movies with other people’s money and using a lot of stock footage.

The movie is never slow or boring.  There are a lot of jokes and funny scenes.  Kit Ramsey, for instance, seems to have mental issues.  He’s convinced that alien voices in his head want him to flash the Laker Girls.  (Since he’s already paranoid about aliens, unknowingly starring in a movie about alien invaders isn’t the best thing for him.)  Ramsey is also part of a group called Mind Head, which is a thinly veiled substitute for Scientology.

This is the kind of movie you could watch repeatedly.  There are very few movies I’d recommend buying; this is one of them.  (If you rent it, you’ll probably end up buying it anyway.)  There are so many funny scenes in the movie that you’ll probably miss most of the jokes only because you’re laughing so hard.  This is definitely a must-watch film.

Trading Places (1983)

Nature versus nurture has been an ongoing debate as long as I can remember.  One side says that upbringing is everything.  Given the right resources, education and opportunity can make all the difference.   The other side says that it’s all genetics.  Given the right lineage, you can do anything you set your mind to.  Randolph and Mortimer Duke, who own a commodities brokerage, start debating which is more important.

The debate escalates to where they place a wager.  If genetics is all powerful, then someone would land on their feet no matter what.  If opportunity trumps all, then some guy brought in off the street could be trained to do anything.  As it so happens, they have the perfect person to take a fall:  Louis Winthorpe III, played by Dan Aykroyd.  He manages their business and is engaged to their grandniece, Penelope.  He has all the good lineage and wealth the Duke Brothers could ask for.  Now all they need is someone to take his place.

Enter Billy Ray Valentine, played by Eddie Murphy.  He’s a fast-talking con man off the streets.  He gets arrested when he bumps into Louis.  (Louis thinks that Billy Ray is trying to steal his briefcase, which contains payroll checks.)  He’s the kind of guy that the Duke Brothers feel wasn’t given the right opportunities.

The Duke Brothers bail Billy Ray out of jail and set him up in Louis’s place.  Meanwhile, they make it look like Louis stole three marked bills.  Louis winds up in jail.  He gets out quickly, but is turned away by Penelope.  He also finds that his accounts are frozen and that he can’t get back into his townhouse, as Billy Ray is living there.  He winds up living with a prostitute named Ophelia.  (Ophelia is played by Jamie Lee Curtis.)  He has to pawn an expensive watch just to get some cash.

It takes a while for Billy Ray to get used to everything.  His new butler, Coleman, keeps reassuring him that everything is his and that it’s all real.  Not long after moving in, Billy Ray takes over Louis’s old job and proves good at it.  It looks like opportunity does play an important factor.

Eventually, Billy Ray overhears the Duke Brothers talking about their bet.  When he overhears that only a dollar was wagered, he decides that Louis has a right to know.  He eventually catches up with Louis at Ophelia’s place and has a close call.  He explains everything back at the townhouse and Coleman confirms.  At Billy Ray’s suggestion, Louis comes up with a plan to get revenge on the Duke Brothers.

This is one of those movies that doesn’t get old.  I keep seeing it on television, usually right as the revenge part begins.  (The revenge is maybe the last third of the movie.)  I finally got around to watching it through Netflix’s streaming service.

Most of the movie is relatively safe.  We do get a few scenes with some nudity, and yes, you do get to see stuff.  Also, there’s one scene towards the end where the F bomb is used, so parental discretion is advised.  As for the financial aspect, the end of the movie was a little confusing.  I’m not exactly sure what Billy Ray and Louis did.  However, it’s not really necessary to understand the plot of the movie.  It’s not the kind of thing that will be distracting or cause you to lose sight of the story.  It’s evident that Billy Ray and Louis knowingly ruin the Duke Brothers.  (From what I read on IMDb, Eddie Murphy was so confused by the financial aspect that he just stuck to the script for the final scenes.)

As for family versus opportunity, the movie wasn’t really to heavy-handed with it.  It was just something to get the plot going.  One thing that occurred to me when I first saw the movie was that when Louis and Billy Ray come together, they end up being unstoppable.  While both lineage and opportunity may be important, it looks like it’s both things together that make a person great.