It's strange how memory works for us. Time and experience alter memory and it is only when we re-visit things that we remember them as they truly are. If you had asked me yesterday about 48 HRS. (Walter Hill, Paramount, 1982) I would have probably remarked on how great Eddie Murphy was in the film, how funny the film was and how much I wish they had never made a sequel. After viewing the film today though, I remembered that this was a damn good film. Sure Eddie was great, but so too was Nick Nolte, the writing and dialogue for the film, the direction and cinematography. It's a great action film, a comedy and a buddy film. And the extreme difference in content in just thirty short years is mind boggling.
The narrative to the film is implausible at best. Chasing down a lead, a cop boosts a con out of jail on a 48 hour pass? A stretch to say the least. It works in this film, maybe due to the great chemistry between the two protagonists, maybe because of Eddie's charm. The chemistry works between Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) and Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) on so many levels. Due to the film being made in a different time, the antagonism between a white cop (Cates) and a black con (Hammond) plays differently then it would were the film made today (and God please do not allow a remake). The language, the inherent racism between both, the general use and belief of stereotypes gives the film an edge that would surely be missing today.
One of the main reasons a remake would fail spectacularly is the career of Eddie Murphy probably will never be replicated. Due to a never ending series of bad films and a permanent move into films for families, I think people forget just how raw and refreshing Eddie Murphy was. They don't realize how the man literally burst into the spotlight and OWNED it for a solid five years. No one was funnier, no one had a purer touch when it came to box office. And this was the film that started him on that road, easily one of his best performances. As Reggie Hammond he gives a nuanced performance, at times suave and charming and at others hyper energetic. Watch the Torchy's scene. He puts it all on display in this scene. Angry young black male, disenfranchised from contemporary society, mocking that same society with edge and biting humor. "I don't like white people, and I hate rednecks. Y'all are rednecks, which means I'm enjoying this shit". Pure unadulterated Eddie at the top of his game.
Teaming up with Eddie and giving us a great performance as Jack Cates is Nick Nolte. This is a really good bit of casting. Jack Cates is a tough loner, a hard edged cop who does things his own way. He's racist and himself a stereotype. Nolte nails every inch of this character and it all begins with his voice. Take a shot of whiskey, throw some gravel down your throat and smoke two packs a day for a few months and you start to get that voice.
The most surprising aspect of this film in re-watching it lies in the technical merits of the film. Hill really gives us a sense of an urban jungle, a city full of crooks and cons in his cinematography of San Francisco. He uses extensive long shots and long takes, allowing his camera to relay to the audience a sense of how isolated he wants his characters to be. Cates and Hammond are on their own in this huge metropolis. Even his inside scenes are claustrophobic and constricting. Watch the scene towards the beginning of the film as Jack enters the precinct. There are 3-4 scenes going on within the scene, all serving to raise tension and give the audience a further claustrophobic feeling.
Watching the film today does make you realize just how much has changed in thirty short years. It is a total departure in tone and language. It gives the film a gritty realism which is often lacking in contemporary films and another reason many of the type films fail miserably today. The marketers and film pre viewers react poorly and thus changes are made. Really quite a shame, as 48 HRS is a great film.
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