It dances with the spirit of the fast-moving 1980s. In Murphy’s performance exists a mischievousness (as seen in the bevy of pranks he pulls) and a rascal devil-may-care attitude that isn’t solely confined to the character’s personality. The beguiling cop is an outgrowth of the upstart energy that perfectly married itself to the young audience who would devour Beverly Hills Cop. If we break Murphy’s career into parts, then his role as Axel Foley, the silver-tongue Detroit cop traversing through Hollywood to solve the murder of an old friend, is the peak of him converting his SNL identity into actorly ability. He somehow ages his eyes, letting us swim through the wailing toll of irreplaceable time. As an elderly prisoner, the actor doesn’t just alter his posture and his gait (moving with a hunched, hesitated shuffle). The role requires another act of makeup for Murphy, with Rick Baker transforming Murphy from a young to old man. Murphy and Lawrence make a great double act and an even better portrait of frenemies turned friends. While there are hilarious parts (Bernie Mack as Jangle Leg and an impromptu paternity test) and moments of glamor (the imagining of a Boom-Boom room where freedom lies), as years turn into decades and we see life literally pass by Murphy and Lawrence’s eyes, heartbreak arises from dreams deferred. As a result, he and Lawrence are sentenced to hard labor at a prison camp. In a Black comedic version of the prison escape film Papillon, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence portray bootleggers framed for the murder of a white man. ![]() It’s the kind of nuanced, subtle shift - an incredible leap in his ability to grasp the emotional and psychological arc of his characters - that makes you wish Eddie Murphy played more unlikable characters. Murphy allows himself to be a villain by upending his bewitching star persona to be something quite nasty, as he switches from an in control sexual being to someone reduced solely to their sexual prowess, and to the butt of the joke and then to a mature partner. In actuality, Boomerang is a socially smart romcom critiquing men like Marcus Graham who see women as disposable, and flipping their virile tactics onto their heads. Another complained that the all-Black cast constituted affirmative action. Much of that is due to racism reviews by white critics at the time questioned the authenticity of a movie that portrayed successful Black business people in a world sans white corporations. It took far too long for Boomerang to become a classic. The camera is equally enamored with him, especially in the taut honky tonk bar scene, where his confrontation against racist white cowboys cuts through the cinematic air with a confidence that belies his relative inexperience. Even with his inchoate acting ability, Murphy displays impeccable timing and a suggestive dramatic tension that rises above the dross material on the page. While Murphy doesn’t appear until about a third of the way through the film, he’s an immediate burst of charisma, to such a point you wonder why he isn’t the lead. In his debut screen performance as the supporting act opposite Nick Nolte (playing a racist, no-nonsense cop), Eddie Murphy portrays the sex-crazed inmate Reggie Hammond, who Nolte enlists on a 48-hours-leave from prison to track down an at-large murderer in San Francisco. Here are the 14 best Eddie Murphy movie performances, ranked. This list will consider how each performance and character fit in Murphy’s journey as an actor, his cultural prominence, and how he added new layers to his on-screen presence. It’s through these that we see how he has grown and reconfigured himself from upstart stand-up comedian to an Oscar-nominated actor who has reimagined the Black leading man away from the prestige space held by Denzel Washington, and earned a corner of box-office dominance that defied his staunchest critics in the process. While one could easily rank the best Eddie Murphy movies - regurgitating a list that offers few surprises and even fewer insights into his career - what’s far more interesting is looking at his best performances. ![]() As an actor, Murphy’s career can be split in several phases: the early expanding of his SNL persona into hip raconteur, his man of a thousand faces era, his dance with child movies, his decline, and his recent revival.
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