48 Hrs.

It’s a full 25 minutes before Eddie Murphy makes his way onto the screen in 1982’s ’48 Hrs’. It’s a noteworthy appearance for two reasons. 1: It’s his first ever starring role in a movie. 2: We haven’t been able to get rid of him ever since.

Those opening 25 minutes make for some tough viewing. Nick Nolte, as hard-bitten detective Jack Cates, sees two of his colleagues shot down in cold blood by escaped convict Ganz (James Remar), before setting about catching this gruff-voiced baddie on his own. The only trouble is, he soon finds that’s easier said than done – so roll out the Murphster as prison inmate Reggie Hammond, Ganz’s former partner-in-crime.

The general deal is, Reggie’s allowed out of the slammer for 48 hours (geddit?), on the proviso that he helps the downright dislikeable Cates find his fugitive. Cue bar-room brawls, street-fights and run-ins with the uniformed side of the law as the pair of them make their investigation about as discreet as Nicole Kidman’s rubber hooter in another rubbish film with ‘Hours’ in its title.

In these days where such buddy-cop flicks are two-a-penny, the subject matter of ’48 Hours’ is incredibly dated. But there are much better reasons than that for treating this guff to a good ol’ slagging. What the film basically boils down to is a couple of racists wandering around town swearing at each other. That’s often passed off as ‘chemistry’ between the two leads, but personally I’d much rather see a bit of decent comedy in there instead. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure if it’s meant to be a comedy at all. It certainly has none of the humour of Murphy’s vastly superior project from two years later, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’.