Review of 48 Hrs. (1982) by Todd L — 09 Jan 2010

"48 HRS." really is the prime example of an action comedy. It seems like after this film, a whole string of movies were made to try to copy what this film did, but just failed. Though the plot may be a little predictable, the way that the film is done makes it all the more better.

The premise is what you would expect. Basically, Nick Nolte has to go track down these guys who killed two cops at a motel. He knows the third man (Murhpy) is still in prison, so he takes him for 48 hours in order for him to help Nick track down the bad guys. Not very original, but it still get's the job done.

The comedy in this film is sort of hit and miss. Some of the jokes that Murphy says gave me a good chuckle, but at other times I thought that what he was saying was just ridiculous. The same thing goes for Nolte who sometimes made me laugh, and sometimes didn't. Besides these two actors, the performances that everyone else gives are pretty bad. It's all pretty ridiculous. Some lines that we hear are over the top in cheesiness, or when the bad guys get mad the acting is so bad it's funny. This is okay though, because most of the screen time is taken up by Nolte and Murphy.

The action in this film is pretty good. Shootouts move at a fast pace, so they keep you entertained throughout. The car chases are pretty good too. Again, it's what you'd expect.

The music by James Horner is once again predictable. All of his themes sound exactly the same, and though it may be good, it's kind of frustrating to listen to the music in this film, and think about that same music just in another film.

Not much more else is to say. "48 Hrs." was a decent movie. It was fun, action packed, sort of well acted by two people, and just a good cop movie.