48 Hrs

UK Release Date. 14 December 1982
Certification. 18

Running Time. 1 hour 36 mins

Director. Walter Hill

Cast. Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, James Remar.

Rating. 56%

Review.

The 1980s were the zenith for the 'buddy cop movie' with the likes of Beverley Hills Cop (1984), Lethal Weapon (1987) and Stakeout (1987) released. Walter Hill's 48 Hrs was one of the earlier offerings. As a result, 48 Hrs has admittedly aged with outdated attitudes, language and cultural depiction which will cause offence.

However, there is still a lot to admire in the film. 48 Hrs is raw and unpolished, but retains a certain amount of charm. Practically every line of dialogue is tightly crafted and there is a surprising amount of action for a film with a running time of 96 minutes. 

Nick Nolte plays the gruff, hard-nosed Inspector Jack Cates, who, through necessity, recruits the services of wise-cracking inmate, Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) in an attempt to hunt down escaped convict, Albert Ganz (James Remar). 48 Hrs was the film that rocketed Eddie Murphy to fame. He is a natural on-screen. Yes, much of his dialogue and attitude is grotesquely sexist, but the hate-hate dynamic between Murphy and Nolte is on point.

48 Hrs is undoubtedly an important contribution to the genre that stems from a lineage that began with In The Heat Of The Night (1967) and The French Connection (1971) to more recent offerings such as Bad Boys (1995), 21 Jump Street (2012) and more recently, 21 Bridges (2019).