Totally forgotten that "48 Hrs" was Eddie Murphy's debut. The man's acting is so mature and natural, that I would have guessed he had been starring in blockbusters for years, before he made "48 Hrs". Eddie Murphy is really a force of nature: energetic, rude and incredible funny. Unfortunately many movies in his carreer were mediocre, he made 2 movies that really excelled: "Beverly Hills Cop" and "48 Hrs". If you like this movie you WILL love "Beverly Hills Cop" too. These 2 movies have a lot in common, because they are both funny buddy cop movies.What's the story? Thief Eddie Murphy gets temporarily released from jail in order to track down a cop killer. The suspenseful and action packed pursuit of this cop killer is what "48 Hrs" is all about. The cop who accompanies Eddie Murphy on his search is played by Nick Nolte, a smoking, cussing, alcholic cop. Nick Nolte is the other force of nature in this picture. The chemistry between Nolte and Murphy is what makes this movie to die for. A lot of scenes were improvised and that is what makes this movie really special. It is street smart and credible. Serious and suspenseful, but still funny.I can't help but keep comparing "Beverly Hills Cop" to this movie because there is another similarity: the long scenes. It could have been a Tarantino movie where the characters also get plenty of time to talk. Just to talk. It is refreshing to see an action movie that gives its characters the opportunity to interact with eachother. It makes the characters credible. And because both Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte were both at the peak of their carreers while making 48 Hours, it is a contineous joy to see those 2 talents perform excellently."48 Hrs" is really one of the best buddy cop movies I know. I love the photography with the long telelenses shots. I love the hilarious, but still credible chemistry between the actors. It is a classic that I havent seen being made for a while. Truly a movie I cherish...

Hard-nosed cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) finds himself being forced to ask convict Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) for his help in tracking down two violent cop killers. Cates has Hammond on loan to him for 48 hours so it's very much a race against time to track down these murderous punks....48 Hours was the film that kick started Eddie Murphy's acting career and made him one of the most bankable stars of the 1980's. Watching his performance in this film it's very easy to see why; Murphy just had so much energy and was just so much fun to watch that often I could find myself forgiving some of the weaker areas in many of his films. I still liked Murphy in this film and thought he was fun to watch but...I didn't think that much of the story to be honest; it's a rather weak and unfocused affair; the baddies are in the film at the start and then disappear for an hour and then they only show up towards the end to wrap the film up. In the early stages this is OK because it allows for Murphy and Nolte to trade insults and kick off with each other. Like I say this is fun at first, but in mismatched buddy films the characters hatred for one another should form part of the story rather than engulfing the film and sadly the latter aspect is what occurs here. The story has no real depth, the baddies have no development and sadly that means that we're left with nearly 90 minutes of Murphy and Nolte trading insults - like I say it's fun at first, but wears thin.The directing here is also a bit hit-and-miss as well; the film wasn't as action packed as I was expecting and coupled with the rather weak and undeveloped story this was never as good as it could have been. The true selling point here lies with Nolte and Murphy who were both very good and played off one another very well.48 Hours isn't a terrible film by any means and the chemistry between Murphy and Nolte was pretty good. Unfortunately, the director put too much focus on them and not enough focus on anything else. This results in a film that is fun for a while, but does get a little repetitive and tiresome from time to time.

Eddie Murphy during his prime. Nick Nolte before alcohol took its course with him. The film is about a no nonsense officer who teams up with a career criminal for 48 hours in order to catch a cop killer using that said officer's own gun. This film is basically the Odd Couple with guns and excellently choreographed gunplay action. No really, the action is great. And the film is funny without trying to be funny, which is a mistake made by the sequel which I'm going to watch and review next. I don't know much about Eddie Murphy's career but I'm sure this was the film that helped him become a household name. This movie as it all. Action, comedy, great story and character development.

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.