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This is one of the most fun buddy cop, well...anti-buddy cop movies I've ever watched. I say anti-buddy because Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) is actually a convict and to quote his assessment of his relationship with his partner, Nick Nolte's irascible Jack Cates, "we ain't brothers, we ain't partners, and we ain't friends." Not only an anti-buddy cop movie, but also a one crazy night movie, well...two crazy nights - look at the title - we follow the pair as they comb San Francisco for a fugitive and former accomplice of Hammond's, James Remar's very ruthless (and sullen) Ganz. If the plot sounds simple, it is, but twists and turns abound, and besides, the true fun of the movie comes from watching Murphy and Nolte trade barbs. This was Eddie Murphy's movie debut and it's easy to see why it made him a star. Everything he says and does either made me laugh or gasp at the fearlessness and audacity. I especially liked the scene where he shakes down a country bar - it's hard to believe such an establishment ever existed in San Francisco - which may be even better than the similar scene in The French Connection. It helps that Nolte, whose star also rose thanks to this movie, could not be a better foil. The beautifully shot San Francisco locations are the icing on the cake, the highlights being the neon-soaked Chinatown scenes which are bound to appeal to lovers of the outrun aesthetic. Not everything in the movie has aged well, most notably the more racist barbs that Cates and others level at Hammond, and while it has a better attitude about racism than other movies from this era do, they still rubbed me the wrong way. Other than that, I had a blast and would rank the movie among Shane Black's best buddy and anti-buddy movies. Look out for a young Denise Crosby (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) in small roles.
This is one of the most fun buddy cop, well...anti-buddy cop movies I've ever watched. I say anti-buddy because Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) is actually a convict and to quote his assessment of his relationship with his partner, Nick Nolte's irascible Jack Cates, "we ain't brothers, we ain't partners, and we ain't friends." Not only an anti-buddy cop movie, but also a one crazy night movie, well...two crazy nights - look at the title - we follow the pair as they comb San Francisco for a fugitive and former accomplice of Hammond's, James Remar's very ruthless (and sullen) Ganz. If the plot sounds simple, it is, but twists and turns abound, and besides, the true fun of the movie comes from watching Murphy and Nolte trade barbs. This was Eddie Murphy's movie debut and it's easy to see why it made him a star. Everything he says and does either made me laugh or gasp at the fearlessness and audacity. I especially liked the scene where he shakes down a country bar - it's hard to believe such an establishment ever existed in San Francisco - which may be even better than the similar scene in The French Connection. It helps that Nolte, whose star also rose thanks to this movie, could not be a better foil. The beautifully shot San Francisco locations are the icing on the cake, the highlights being the neon-soaked Chinatown scenes which are bound to appeal to lovers of the outrun aesthetic. Not everything in the movie has aged well, most notably the more racist barbs that Cates and others level at Hammond, and while it has a better attitude about racism than other movies from this era do, they still rubbed me the wrong way. Other than that, I had a blast and would rank the movie among Shane Black's best buddy and anti-buddy movies. Look out for a young Denise Crosby (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) in small roles.