I regard 48 Hrs as an action adventure with a comedic debut performance by the then 21 years old, Eddie Murphy.Hard nosed, hard drinking cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) pulls a convicted bank robber Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) from prison on a forged 48 hours pass to help him capture Hammond's old partner, Albert Ganz (James Remar) who killed Cates fellow cop.Ganz himself escaped from prison with the help of native, Billy Bear and both go on a killing rampage as they look for the half a million dollars that went missing after one of their robberies.Reggie knows where the money is but wants to stay one step ahead of Cates. Both distrust each other but need to work together to catch Ganz.Walter Hill made a tough thriller with plenty of violence and cursing but imbued it with the humour of Murphy fresh from Saturday Night Live. Without his presence this would just be a forgotten police action film from the 1980s. He owns that scene when he pretends to be a cop at a country & western dive bar as he shakes down the patron.Murphy elevates the film with the help of some off beat support by Remar and David Patrick Kelly. Nolte plays off well with the street smart, lean and hungry Murphy as the gruff cop who drinks too much and is too flabby.In the sequel, Another 48 Hours, eight years later it was Murphy who would be flabby and out of shape going against a leaner, meaner Nolte.

Walter Hill's bawdy buddy cop classic 48 Hrs is for me the original and best entry in the sub genre. Countless films since have attempted to re create the aesthetic which was so purely and profanely distilled here. I think one of the reasons it worked so well is because one of the duo isn't even a cop at all, but a fast talking ex con played by Eddie Murphy with exquisite comic timing and bullet-time verbosity in what was one of his first roles. He's paired with a gruff, grunting Nick Nolte as Jack Cates, a spectacularly bad tempered Detective who is forced to bring along Murphy's gabber mouthed Reggie Hammond on a mad goose chase of a hunt for two staggeringly homicidal criminals. The entirety of the film is peppered with nostalgically anti-PC banter between the two, delightfully distasteful stuff that would never make it into a studio movie in this, the day and age of the offended millennial whiner. These two guys genuinely dislike each other for the majority of the film, and get so caught up in their petty feuds and arguing that they actually get distracted from their case, taking interludes to literally beat each other up in an alley. Nolte is perfect as the irresponsible hotshot with anger issues up the wazoo and a penchant for reckless behaviour. Murphy doesn't let up with the mile-a-minute yakking for one second of screen time, making damn sure his performance makes an impression. And it did, putting him on the map in a big way, and forging a career playing these types of dudes. James Remar has never been scarier, crafting a villain so psychopathic and dangerous he'd rather shoot cops and terrorize civilians that enjoy a hooker he picks up. The look of pure malice on his face as he coldly puts a bullet in a poor officer is chilling. He's Albert Ganz, heinous prison escapee on the run with equally nasty compadre Billy Bear (The legendary Sonny Landham). The two prove to be a raging juggernaut of violence for Jack and Reggie to contend with, providing some crackling action set pieces including a chase scene set on a speeding San Francisco cable car that will give your TV a good workout. There's supporting work from solid players including some Hill favourites. David Patrick Kelly plays an unsavoury associate of Ganz's, Annette O Toole is Jack's poor neglected love interest, and there's work from Chris Mulkey, Jonathan Banks, Frank McCrae and the late Brion James as well. When it comes to buddy cop flicks, this is the original and accept no substitutes. The two leads have never been funnier or more committed to such a heightened pair of performances. Hill drives the direction with snappy, ruthless precision where the laughs hit with the same stinging impact as the full throttle violence and wanton obscenities hurled across the screen. It holds up just as well today as it did back in the 80's, and is always ripe for a revisit.

A murderous convict, Albert Ganz (James Remar), with the help of accomplice Indian Billy Bear (Sonny Landham), bursts out of chain gang after killing two guards. The convicts go to San Francisco and grab an old acquaintance, slimy Luther (David Patrick Kelly) and his girl. They want the money that he is supposedly holding, and as insurance hold the sleaze-ball's girlfriend hostage until the cash is delivered. The convicts hole up in a shady hotel and order prostitutes. Meanwhile our hero – cranky, gruff, and tough detective – Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) and two plainclothesmen surge into the hotel room. Nonetheless the situation goes badly for the lawmen as the two cops are killed and the hoodlums escape. At the police station, Cates is given grief by his immediate superior Haden (Frank McRae) who rants and raves (and overreacts in all of his scenes). One of the prostitutes, lovely Lisa (Greta Blackburn) – who earlier had exposed her beautiful breasts – says to a policewoman, "I think he's going to give you guys a hard time." When asked why, she quips, "I just think he likes shooting cops a lot more than getting laid."Determined to track down the two thugs, Cates is forced to turn to convicted thief and hustler Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) for help. Rather easily, he gets Hammond a two-day parole from jail (in his custody) to assist him. Hammond is also after Ganz. Seems these two stole money from a drug dealer several years earlier, and Ganz is determined to grab the whole stash. So the rest of the movie focuses on two mismatched guys – Cates and Hammond – who hate each other. Cates likes to utter racial epithets; Hammond hates cops. Hammond puts it plainly, "We ain't brothers, we ain't partners, and we ain't friends." Over two days though, the two men gradually develop a mutual respect for each other as they traverse various places around town in a convertible Cadillac looking for information that leads to the two fugitives. Near the end there is a thrilling chase and shootout involving a public bus and convertible. The main gripe along the way is this scenario: The fight between the two protagonists in the alley is long and Murphy comes out of it looking a little too good. His suit is hardly ruffled. The much larger Nolte looks worse. Nevertheless, Nolte and Murphy are sensational as a team, as there is great chemistry between them. By the way, this movie is Murphy's debut. On the other side, Remar and Landham play sufficiently psychotic and violent goons. The movie's non-stop sharp dialog and the music of the Busboys are pluses.

"48 HRS." (1982) is a crime thriller starring Nick Nolte as a tough guy/alcoholic cop in San Francisco who survives a fracas where two officers are killed. To apprehend the culprits (James Remar & Sonny Landham) he enlists the services of a convict (Eddie Murphy) for 48 hours. Annette O'Toole plays the cop's barely-seen babe and is therefore neglected.The film was directed by Walter Hill, the director and co-writer of 1979's "The Warriors," and so it has some of the flair of that movie, as well as two of its main actors (Remar and David Patrick Kelly). It's easy to confuse it with "Beverly Hills Cop," which came out two years later, since they're both cop thrillers starring Eddie Murphy, but "Beverly Hills Cop" is the superior film IMHO. Of course, it depends on what you're in the mood for. "48 HRS" is more serious, brutal and edgy while "BHC" is lighter and more likable. The latter could be described as part comedy (although mostly serious) whereas the former is rough and nigh profane with amusing touches. "BHC" is just more palatable and has better themes in my opinion. The streetwise edginess of "48 HRS" is too over-the-top comic booky and it's a turn-off. Nonetheless, it's a quality cop thriller and the character ark of the main characters is good, albeit predictable.The film runs 96 minutes and was shot in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California.GRADE: B-