48 Hrs. came out when I was only a couple of years old, but the sheer entertainment of this buddy cop/crook action comedy was so enjoyable that the VHS seem to play on a loop at whatever family member’s house I happened to be visting.

Now, the Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte romp is on Paramount Plus, and it’s still a starmaker for both of them, and also still a better film in both of their respective catalogs.

Nolte stars as Jack Cates, as grouch of a cop that you’ve ever seen that personifies the hero type of the era. He has to catch a pair of killers, but the only way to do so is by recruiting a felon from prison name Reggie Hammond, played of course by Murphy. The time to crack the case? 48 Hrs of course.

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The two are just so good together on screen. We get an early, happy go lucky, laugh a minute Murphy, who would kind of flip this character into Axl Foley. His antics drive the stressed out Cates to his limits, and they’ve still got the crooks to worry about.

Director Walter Hill, doesn’t let the pace slow down. One minute, we’re watching Reggie bring a country music party to a complete stop, the next we’re watching an ace Cadilac vs bus chase in the streets of San Francisco with bullets flying everywhere.

The only thing opposing 48 Hrs 42 years after it came out is indeed it’s age. This movie couldn’t be made the same way again. That’s unfortunate.

But it’s a classic from the era. A must watch from those who want to see Nolte and Murphy at their best. If only to watch the latter sing “Roxanne” in a jail cell.

48 Hrs

Grade (1992, when I could fully interpret it): A-

Grade (2024): A-

What did you think of 48 Hrs? Let me know in the comments.

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