48 Hrs. (1982)

Starring: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, James Remar, and Jonathan Banks
Grade: A

For movie fans, it’s fun to note that not only does the director of The Warriors in Walter Hill direct 48 Hrs., but the angsty Ajax in actor James Remar plays the main antagonist here in Albert Ganz. In addition, David Patrick Kelly who played Luther in The Warriors plays a guy named Luther in 48 Hrs. It’s crazy to see how this all worked out.

Summary

Prisoners work on cleaning a railroad while a guard watches. Soon, they all stop as Billy Bear (Sonny Landham) drives his pickup truck over to the group and tells the guard that his truck is overheating. Since its 30 miles to the next station, he asks if he can have some water. Prisoner Albert Ganz (Remar) starts making fun of Billy, so he attacks Ganz. They get into a fight in the muddy water, but it turns out that it was all part of the plan. Both Billy and Ganz stop fighting, pull out guns, and shoot the guard. They shoot another guard, and all the other prisoners escape. The last guard left shoots at them, but Ganz and Billy escape in Billy’s truck. The guard relays the message on dispatch.

San Francisco Police Inspector Jack Cates (Nolte) wakes up in bed with his girlfriend Elaine (Annette O’Toole) at her place, and he’s not in a great mood per usual. Elsewhere in San Francisco, Ganz is on a payphone and calls for some hookers to be sent to the Walden Hotel for the room under “G.P. Polson” in a couple of hours. Once he hangs up, him and Billy Bear walk away. Behind them is a guy Billy shot in the head laid out on a park bench in broad daylight. Back at Elaine’s place, Jack puts some hard liquor from his flask into his coffee, and she comments how it’s a bad way to start out a day. Naturally, this turns into an instant argument, as Jack is already anticipating a rough day. She talks about how it’s like she doesn’t know him when he gets like this, but he walks around it by saying they make each other feel good and there shouldn’t be anything more than that. She wishes he wouldn’t try to make her mad, but he’s over it because he has to go to work. However, he stops before he leaves and sighs. She calls him hopeless, but they still make up before he heads out. She gives him a scarf because it’s apparently cold, but he just hangs it around his mirror in his broke ass convertible before he drives off. Somewhere in town, Luther (David Patrick Kelly) and his girlfriend Rosalie (Kerry Sherman) are walking on the sidewalk, and Ganz and Billie jump out of a car, grab them, and put them in the backseat. Immediately, Ganz points a gun in Luther’s face, and Luther’s surprised to see him because he thought he was still in prison. Billy holds his hands over Rosalie’s mouth. Ganz demands the money Reggie Hammond (Murphy) hid, but Luther doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Ganz threatens to have Billy snap Rosalie’s neck, so Luther says he can get the money for him but can’t until Monday because the place where they have it stashed doesn’t open until Monday morning. Ganz is fine with this and mentions how he always liked Luther. However, they are keeping Rosalie until then and will kill her if Luther screws them. They push Luther out of the car and drive off.

Inspectors Algren (Banks) and Van Zant (James Keane) show up at the Walden Hotel. As soon as they park, Jack pulls up to see if they need backup, which Algren immediately declines because Jack makes him nervous.

Jack persists because the radio said they had something, but Algren doesn’t think it’s anything major. A salesman “G.P. Polson” had his credit cards stolen, and one of the cards rented the green coup that’s parked across the street. Apparently, a younger guy with a switch blade mugged Polson and took off on a motorcycle. Van Zant doubles down and tells Jack they don’t need any big artillery, but he just wants to help. Algren lets him come with to stake out the lobby. All three men annoy the hell out of the desk clerk with three different approaches, but Algren is able to get down to business, especially after Jack finds where “Polson’s” room is. The woman lets them know a couple of girls went up to his room an hour ago. Algren and Van Zant reiterate to Jack to stay in the lobby, and he’s okay with it. In the room under Polson’s credentials of course is Ganz. He’s zoned out watching Space Kid while the girl he just fucked is complaining about this being a part-time thing to collect money to send to her kid who’s staying with his grandmother. She asks if he listened to a single word she said, and it’s obvious he didn’t. She lays on the bed next to him and asks if he has more money. As the desk clerk uses the work phone for a personal call to her friend Liz, Jack looks around the lobby. Algren and Van Zant go up and knock on the door of the room. Ganz snaps into action and points a gun at the woman. He tells her to ask who it is at the door. Once they say it’s the police, Ganz has her stall, and she says she has to put some clothes on. He takes her to the other side of the room and hits her. He opens the conjoining door to the other room, and Billy threatens the other two women with his gun. Ganz pops out of Billy’s room into the hallway to sneak attack the cops and shoots Van Zant. Algren gets into a shootout with Ganz and Billy, and the two run out with one of the girls. They shoot Algren too. Hearing the gunshots, Jack tells the desk clerk to call for help, and he runs upstairs to help out Algren. Once Jack gets to the room bypassing all the crying women, a wounded Algren tells Jack there are two of them. Meanwhile, Ganz and Billy take the elevator with one of the girls. Ganz tells the desk clerk to drop the phone just as Jack gets back to the lobby. He knocks Ganz down but has to take cover when Billy starts shooting at him.

Ganz grabs the clerk as a hostage while Billy uses Rosalie as his hostage. After a back-and-forth shootout, Algren comes running down the stairs and prepares to fire, but he’s out of bullets. Ganz tells Jack to drop his gun or they’ll shoot Algren. Algren demands Jack to not do it, but Jack relents and tosses the gun to Ganz. Ganz has Billy take Rosalie to the car and he lets the clerk go. Ganz shoots Algren and goes to shoot Jack, but Jack manages to run and jump over the counter to avoid it. Even so, Ganz escapes with Billy.

Back at the station, Jack deals with a bunch of shit from his fellow cops as Jack talks about how they were good cops, but they fucked up, an excuse he says a lot according to them. One guy comments how two cops died because Jack fucked up, and Jack flips and pushes him. They have to be separated, and Captain Haden (Frank McRae) walks by to say they have to talk. Jack tells him he will be there in five minutes. He gets a new gun to replace the one Ganz took, and Ruth (Clare Nono) pins up some photos of crime scene related stuff. Apparently, there have been more deaths from .44s compared to usual. One of the photos is the park bench guy Billy took out. Another cop lets Jack know that it was Ganz. He went to prison for armed robbery, and he lets Jack know how he just broke out of a prison a couple of days ago. After Jack makes a smart comment to the hooker Ganz fucked, Ruth shows him the match between the bullet used from the guy on the park bench and the two from the Walden. It happened 6 hours apart from each other. The hooker comments to the cop questioning her that Ganz is going to give them trouble because she recalls him saying that he likes shooting cops more than he likes getting laid, which is certifiably insane. Inspector Kehoe (Brion James) shows Jack how the guys also had a .44 like his and gives him the file on Billy. He’s an Indian from the East Bay who worked with Ganz a few years back and is the one who sprung him from the road gang. Jack notes another guy in the report, and Kehoe tells him that it’s Henry Wong (John Hauk). He was a part of the same job. Jack takes Kehoe to the wall where Ruth is at and points out how Wong is the one who was killed on the park bench (“Hey, Dick fucking Tracy”). Jack wants to talk to one of the gang members still walking around, so Kehoe says one of them is still in prison. Haden yells for Jack again, so he goes into his office and says right away that he wants to be left alone on this one because Algren was killed with his gun. Haden reminds him how there is an official department policy on cop killings.

Cop killers represent a special priority because they are greater threats to unarmed civilians if they are willing to kill cops. Still, they can’t seem like they are in the revenge business. He then asks if there is anything else bothering him besides losing his gun. Jack has to say the obvious in that he doesn’t like when cops are killed, so Haden suggests he act as a team player instead of a “hot dog”. However, Jack prefers the way of the hot dog, as we all do, I’m sure. Plus, Jack has a lead. Haden knows Jack has his own way of doing things and if he nails this guy, it will all make them look good. However, he has to watch himself because all eyes are going to be on this case. If Jack screws up, he’s going down. Following this, Jack goes to meet Reggie Hammond in prison. He finds Reggie in his cell with sunglasses on singing “Roxanne” loud enough for the entire prison to hear him. He pulls Reggie out of his cell to talk to him in private. He says he knows all about Reggie. He’s single, has no fixed address, no relatives, one previous conviction of armed robbery, and he has 6 months to go on a 3-year sentence. He shows him a picture of Henry Wong and Reggie confirms who it is. Still, he goes on about how he’s been in a cell for 2 and a half years and he’s not going to do anything to screw himself up. He also doesn’t plan on divulging any information to fuck over his friends. Jack talks shit to him and mentions Ganz, prompting Reggie to say that Ganz will still be in jail two years after he gets out. So, Jack delivers the news that Billy busted him out and walks away to entice him. With this, Reggie says he can help Jack get Ganz, but Jack has to get Reggie on the street first because he has a lot to protect and he wants Ganz as much as him. Reggie says they don’t have time, but Jack thinks they do and walks away. He says he’ll think about Reggie’s offer. Afterwards, Jack gets a worker in the prison named Bob to type up a letter of temporary release and signs a fake name on it. Bob lets him know that if he gets in trouble, he’s not going down for Jack. Either way, Jack will have Reggie for 48 hours.

Get it?

Bob comments how Jack has a career as a forager if he decides to go that way, and Jack thanks him. They let security know and Jack signs for Reggie. Right away, the two start talking shit, with Jack noting how desperate he is, which is why he sprung Reggie. He notices Reggie’s suit, and Reggie explains how he went into prison with it and has a reputation for looking nice for the ladies. He suggests taking Jack on a hunt for some pussy, but he’s not in the mood for jokes. After Jack confirms he already has a woman, he puts Reggie in handcuffs and Reggie tries to back out of the deal because he doesn’t work like this. Nevertheless, Jack tells him they have no deal, and he owns Reggie’s ass for the time being. Jack also tells him that he doesn’t consider them partners either. They are working together until Ganz is either locked up or dead. If Ganz gets away, he says Reggie will be sorry he ever met him. Reggie comments that he’s already sorry. They get to the car, and Jack states that he’s done his part by getting Reggie out. With this, he wants Reggie to determine where they go first. He says they have to find Luther because he correctly assumes Ganz will be seeing him soon, which doesn’t give them much time. Jack asks if Luther is part of the gang, but Reggie is confused by this comment. They continue to argue until Jack drives to Luther’s place. He lets him know Luther isn’t stable and he doesn’t want Jack getting shot before he has a chance to help him. The chances Luther has a gun is 100%, according to Reggie. Reggie wants Jack to give him a gun because he doesn’t want to be unprotected, but Jack refuses this and handcuffs Reggie to the steering wheel. Jack busts into Luther’s place after one knock and enters the apartment. Luther pops in from outside and shoots at Jack and misses. Luther runs out into the street, but Reggie manages to stop him by opening up the car door as he runs by. Luther slams into it and falls down, with Reggie grabbing his gun. Jack shows up and points his gun at Reggie, demanding he give up the gun or he’s dead. After Reggie gives it over, Jack demands Luther give up Ganz’s location, but Luther says he hasn’t seen him in years. Jack notes how Luther shot at him, so he knows Luther has an idea where Ganz is.

Luther tries to get smart with him, so Jack attacks him and Reggie starts talking shit to him. Luther tries to attack Reggie, but Jack puts Luther in a headlock. As he does, he gets on Reggie for his big idea of going to Luther leading to nothing. Jack brings in Luther to the station with charges of carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest, and he tells the cop at the front that he promises to think of some more charges in his report that he will file the next day. As Jack calls Elaine, Reggie goes to talk to some hookers. Jack admits he’s too busy to come over tonight, and Elaine is not happy about it because she’s working too hard in this relationship. Following her angrily hanging up, Jack pulls Reggie away from the hookers he was flirting with. Reggie wants to eat, but Jack tells him they will eat when he says. Reggie has had enough with this comment. He notes how Jack has been treating him like shit since he got out, and he demands food from a nice restaurant, or he can just send him back to prison. Jack relents because he’s hungry, but it’s just a joke, as he takes him to the vending machine and gives him a Zagnut bar. Reggie asks who he was talking to on the phone, but Jack refuses to tell him. Reggie correctly guesses it was his girlfriend and asks what her problem is besides Jack himself. Jack admits that she has the problem that half the population deals with. She can’t get a job she trained for, and it pisses her off. On Reggie’s word, they go to the Mission District next to catch Billy. On the drive, Reggie asks Jack more about his relationship and wants to hear about the last time they fucked since he’s tired of hearing everyone in prison lying about getting pussy. Jack admits they fucked last night but got in an argument in the morning. Reggie asks if she has giant titties, and Jack doesn’t find this funny somehow. They go to a club where Billy used to work as a bartender. Reggie does say it’s a long shot, but he heard Billy talk about it before. Jack knows this neighborhood will be able to tell he’s a cop immediately, so he tells Reggie to back him up and act like he has a gun. They discuss how just having a gun and a badge makes a cop thinks he’s tough, but Jack disagrees, saying attitude and experience is what makes a cop what he is.

This leads to Reggie giving him a proposition. If they get any decent information about this case, he wants Jack to turn his back for a half hour so he can get some pussy. Jack doesn’t think he can get it up anyway, but Reggie assures him that his dick gets hard after the wind blows since he’s been in prison for three years. Jack is cool with this. However, if Reggie loses, he wants the truth.

Ganz is after something, and Jack wants to know what it is. Reggie doesn’t know what he’s talking about, so Jack tells him that the bet is off. Finally, Reggie relents and says if he loses, he will tell Jack everything he wants to know. With this, Jack agrees to the bet and gives Reggie his badge to use. They go into this country music club bar, and it’s filled with white people. Jack implies Reggie will run into some trouble, which goes without saying. Reggie goes to the racist bartender, flashes his badge, and asks if he’s heard of Billy Bear, but the bartender says he never heard of him. After Reggie downs the shot of vodka he orders, he throws the glass and breaks the mirror behind the bartender and grabs him. The music is stopped, and everyone watches the two. The bartender still denies knowing anything, so Reggie says he’s going to take a look around. He goes over to some regulars and asks about Billy, but they refuse to listen to him and try to attack. Reggie takes out a few of them and pushes them against the wall. Reggie gets the attention of everyone in the bar and mentions Billy. One guy tries to run, so Jack shoulder tackles him down. Reggie acts like he doesn’t know Jack and tells him it’s not necessary, but Jack says he’s behind him all the way. The man tells Reggie he’s on parole, so that’s why he was running. Reggie just tells him to sit down. He pats some guys down and gets a gun and a wad of cash from two people while he declares to the bar that he doesn’t like white rednecks, so he’s enjoying this. Jack has to hide his smile while watching. As Reggie finds a knife on another guy and threatens him, he goes back to the bartender and starts breaking glasses until the bartender relents. He tells Reggie that Billy hangs out with a girl who lives up the block. It’s right where Chinatown starts. She lives on top of a jewelry store. Reggie comments that he didn’t ask about his girl, but the bartender is honest in saying that he’s telling Reggie everything he knows. Jack gets up to leave while Reggie puts on the bartender’s cowboy hat and tells him to start running a respectable business, so he doesn’t have to come in and hassle him every night.

He turns to the rest of the bar and says, “There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Reggie Hammond”. He tosses the hat back to the bartender and exits.

It looks like this partnership is off to a better start than expected. Still, more rules will have to be broken if Jack and Reggie are to catch a ruthless criminal like Ganz.

My Thoughts:

Setting the standard for the buddy cop film genre, the trailblazing 48 Hrs. is one of the best movies of 1982. Freebie and the Bean may have predated what became of the popularized format, but the success of Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy’s polar opposite characters and lifestyles, along with their hilarious banter and undeniable chemistry highlighted by their clashing personalities, while working towards the same goal, is the blueprint for the mainstream buddy cop movie that all subsequent attempts followed. It’s for good reason too, as it’s STILL one of the best of the often-used formula.

Maybe we have a soft spot for San Francisco cop movies, but 48 Hrs. is yet another excellent depiction of the colorful locations of the area, the city’s underworld, and the hardened, cynical, action hero protagonists that try to do their best to enforce the law but tend to break it while doing so. In a roughneck Harry Callahan-like performance, Nick Nolte stars as the man in question in Inspector Jack Cates, a cop who doesn’t take shit from criminals, coworkers, or even his own girlfriend. Actually, he may just have a temper problem because his constant lash outs aren’t always warranted. It probably doesn’t help that Jack has a tendency to drink on the job and chain smoke, but it’s the law of the land in San Francisco. Everyone in the department is a prick too, so the environment only brings out the worst in Jack. Usually getting any role Clint Eastwood turns down, Nolte does a great job at playing a different but equally aggressive version of “Dirty” Harry like character, though one who is willing to do more paperwork on a realistic level. Even if Jack does go slightly more by the book than his peer, there is no doubt that the two characters would respect each other’s style had they ever come into contact with one another. Looking at the movie through a modern-day lens however, Jack does come off as the antihero cop stereotype that many films have since parodied to death. From Jack pouring liquor from his flask into his morning coffee to his expected relationship problems because of his refusal to open up to arguing with almost everyone at the office, Jack is almost comically written to fit the mold of the badass, temperamental, maverick cop obsessed with his job. If there were any other questions about the clichés used, they even managed to fit in the black captain who yells ad nauseum at the rule-breaking main character. Because of this, modern audiences may not respect this characterization for being unique in that regard, as generations of movies that have followed 48 Hrs. have made this character look derivative. However, context of the time period is key to the movie’s appreciation and why its legacy is deserved. On top of that, very few play a reckless, alcoholic law enforcement official with racist tendencies and perfectly coiffed hair better than Nick Nolte.

He’s got that over a lot of people.

Even with these noted faults, Jack is a great cop and genuinely cares about enforcing the law. The hate he harbors for criminals is real and this motivates him every day. Now, we don’t want to defend someone’s alcoholism, but there is an argument to be made that Jack’s liquor and penchant for smoking is like Popeye the Sailor Man eating his spinach. It almost enhances his abilities, with an eye for crime reminiscent of a hawk. Reggie can’t get anything by him, as evidenced by Jack collecting the gun and the switchblade Reggie confiscated at the redneck bar before giving him the gun back without the clip as a joke. Knowing Jack’s confidence in his abilities and potentially catching Reggie slipping up and proving it by calling him out for trying to steal his lighter in the final scene of the movie, this “Popeye” theory is only intensified in Another 48 Hrs. when a sober Jack noticeably loses a step, and Reggie manages to snatch his lighter in the ending that is a callback to this ending. As bad as Jack’s personal life is in 48 Hrs., seeing his professional life take such a hit in Another 48 Hrs. gives a lot of weight to the need for a flask funnily enough.

Playing his amusing partner lifted straight from prison for advice because of his close connection to the antagonists is Eddie Murphy. In his feature film debut right in the middle of his white-hot run at Saturday Night Live, Murphy plays Reggie Hammond with a great balance of knowing when to be funny and when to mix it up in a fight. Later Murphy roles usually lead to him overdoing it or going too far into one direction (see Metro), but early Murphy didn’t lock himself into the box that would become his persona onscreen. As Reggie Hammond, Murphy finds the sweet spot in portraying the character as written but enriching it with his trademark charisma, charm, and ability to make anyone laugh, including a hard-nosed and hardheaded Nolte. With so many combinations available or potentially in consideration for the leads, there was no better option at the time to play opposite Nolte and nail that type of chemistry with him than the young Eddie Murphy. Their trading of the same threat of how they aren’t partners nor friends and how one will be sorry the other met him and vice versa, prompting either Jack or Reggie to respond “I’m already sorry” depending on who set up the line is just the beginning of the many treats in their dialogue exchanges. They have the same goal, but they can’t help being a nuisance to each other. Jack calls Reggie a “convict” at every turn and takes every opportunity to mess with him since he has no respect for any criminal, like seeing Reggie sleeping in the backseat and slamming the door of his car as hard as possible to wake him up in the morning. Then again, Reggie has to fuck with Jack because of his attitude like when they see Luther steal Reggie’s car during the stakeout and Jack quips, “I didn’t know you darker folk go in for foreign jobs”, with Reggie responding, “Well, some white asshole bought the last piece of shit sky blue Cadillac”. In Reggie’s defense, Jack’s car is a piece of shit, making it even funnier in Another 48 Hrs. when Jack revealed he used Reggie’s money to buy the same exact car all those years later.

After Reggie sees Luther crossing the street to the parking garage after assuming Luther wouldn’t cross him because of his lack of heart, his one liner of “That’s a damn shame, man. He took a shot at a cop yesterday, out on the street today. Judicial system ain’t shit” was swept under the rug because of the pace of the screenplay, but it deserves to be noted for how funny it was in context. On a side note, Reggie’s attempt at striking up a conversation with random women at Vroman’s before doing the same with the male bartender and being ignored by all three was a great joke that I just know would have gotten a huge laugh from a live audience at the movie theater back in the 80s.

What’s important to note compared to more light-hearted affairs in the buddy cop genre, 48 Hrs. is not watered down. The banter is a constant presence between the two leads as expected, but the screenwriters understand the characterizations of the main characters to a “T”. With this in mind, the vitriol between Jack and Reggie is authentic. Knowing how Jack is up until the introduction of Reggie, everything that follows does make sense. Jack has no interest in being friends with Reggie, Reggie can’t help but wisecrack and try to enjoy himself given that he’s temporarily out of prison and has a tendency to mess around in the first place, and they hurl fiery insults at every turn (“Bullshit. You’re too fucking stupid to have a job”). Again, one is a prisoner in the middle of a three-year sentence, and the other is a cop who loathes ANY criminal. It’s a combustible relationship from the outset, and 48 Hrs. isn’t shy about it. In fact, they relish in it. What the film does right is that it understands that the characters wouldn’t have playful dialogue and moments of simply poking the other with a snide comment. No, these two are going at it, with Jack not giving Reggie an ounce of respect and Reggie letting it go until it becomes too much. It’s like when Reggie says Jack has no class once Jack admits he doesn’t give a shit how his car looks. Jack responds saying, “Class isn’t something you buy. Look at you. You got a $500 suit on, and you’re still a lowlife!”. It’s as if the two have prepared a load of insults in the chamber of their mind and are ready to rapid-fire release them as soon as the other opens their mouth. Just as Reggie comments how he still looks good and they watch Luther pull Reggie’s old red suit out of the trunk, he tries to explain how it was the style back then. Immediately, Jack hits him with, “Yeah, if you ever switch from an armed robber to a pimp, you’re all set” in his gravelly voice. In arguably the best scene of the film, Jack threatens to beat the living shit out of Reggie if he doesn’t tell him the truth. As Jack empties his pockets, Reggie hilariously points out how he’s going to end up fucking Jack up and it’s going to be embarrassing for him and the police.

Following a slur, Jack straight-up punches Reggie to let him know “I fight dirty”, a perfect nutshell example of the hot-tempered alcoholic Jack is. Of course, this sets up the iconic fist fight between the two, and they beat the hell out of each other. Once it comes to a standstill, two local cops show up to question them, prompting the exhausted Jack to explain he is a cop. After they clear up how Jack and Reggie were accused of posing as cops by the two women whose apartment they entered during their investigation, Jack still has enough energy to trash talk those guys before getting back into the car with Reggie and sucker punching him following a swig from his flask. It’s just two grown men who don’t get along, having it out and coming to a better understanding of each other because of it. It’s a great way to sell this ego-driven, schoolyard mentality they both have. The fallout is just as good as they clean up but continue to trash track. Reggie is confident he was about to win if the cops didn’t show up, and Jack invites him to try it again before adding that those cops saved Reggie, which is what he will put in the report. It was such a funny way to show the dysfunctional relationship the two have that carries lovingly into Another 48 Hrs. just as well. The word “buddy” in “buddy cop” is a loose one when referring to the uneasy partnership these two have, though it does reach a level of respect that overcomes their situation and it’s heartfelt. It’s obvious when it comes to the climax in Chinatown, but a great example to show the beginning of their evolving relationship is when they meet up at Vroman’s. Jack finally finds Reggie and asks why he didn’t just take the money and split. Reggie admits he could have, but he was truthful in wanting Ganz as bad as Jack does. This is enough to earn Jack’s trust, and Reggie continues with his goodwill by attempting to give back the gun he shouldn’t have. Jack lets him keep it on account of being too tired to argue and even apologizes for the racial insults earlier since he was just trying to keep Reggie down. Despite how serious this could have turned into, Reggie accepts this, laughs it off, and refers to him as “Lincoln” before asking for some money to rent a room with Candy.

The fact Jack happily obliges with his rolled up $20 shows the mutual respect they start to gain for each other. This leads to the best example of how they start to become these unofficial “friends”. Jack and Reggie lose Ganz and Billy Bear during a shootout from the city bus they stole in an awesome action sequence, leading to Jack’s car getting rammed by the bus into a department store window which allowed for the antagonists to escape. It’s a devastating loss for the duo, especially because this is when they started to peak as a team and felt like equals. At the station, Captain Haden FLIPS on Jack for losing the stolen bus, how there’s 5 deaths related to Ganz, and “… You blow it for a lousy n***** convict!”. Following Haden’s ruthless doubling down of “That’s right. I called him a n*****! You bet I did!”, he tells Jack he will be suspended and will go on a review board. As crushing as all of this is, Jack shows his heart for what it’s worth. Despite all of our preconceived notions of the character, he defends Reggie by saying he has more brains than Haden will ever know and has more guts than any partner he has ever had. Following a pause and a comical response from Haden reminding him that “Just ’cause you say it with conviction don’t mean shit to me”, Reggie tries to chime in to suggest Haden is being a little hard on Jack, which means the world. Even if Haden tells Reggie to go fuck himself, this intense dressing down of the main characters after all they been through together strengthens their relationship without the two having a heart to heart. It’s a cool, impressive way to get them to really respect each other without getting gushy, and it’s wonderfully done. It’s the low-key chemistry these two have together when they get serious that is just as good as the banter, exemplified in their “goodbye” toast at the bar leading to their return to Chinatown for the climax. Once they get there, and the two show out as partners in crime hunting down the villains in an intense shootout that finishes with one of the most badass shots of Nick Nolte ever seen on camera when he emerges from the smoke in the alley, you’ll love every second of this endeavor and crave more of this team for years to come.

One sequel wasn’t good enough. We needed a trilogy.

One thing that might not translate to modern viewers are how the female supporting characters are treated in the grand scheme of things. To be fair, it was a regular problem of the times, so we can’t simply blame 48 Hrs. for the issue as a whole. Plus, it makes sense for Jack to be such a horrible boyfriend considering his well-noted personality. He does like Elaine, but she is very much second or even third on his list of priorities. Mostly everyone is this to Jack. It’s all about him and his case, which is why he’s so abrasive. Even when Kehoe tries to help Jack when he mentions Jack’s “friend from Vice” wanting him to call, Jack flips on Kehoe for not telling him sooner. It doesn’t help that Kehoe is a condescending assclown (“I’m not paid to take your personal calls”), but exchanges like this give solid reasoning for Jack’s general temperament. It was also damn funny to hear him yell, “Well, what’s the goddam number Kehoe?!”. Either way, he’s not popular in the office and is ultra-focused on enforcing the law. When Elaine calls him, he assumes it’s the missing Reggie and answers with an aggressive “Hey motherfucker! Where are you?”. It doesn’t cross his mind for a second that it could be someone else, and it brings him down to earth when Elaine rightfully loses it on Jack for his treatment of her. She gives Jack a lot of leeway in her limited screentime and it only intensifies the near hostile traits of Jack, who at that point is even drinking in the office at his desk (“You look awful Jack” – “Yeah, well so do you”). Still, as bad as Elaine is treated, it does fit the character development of the protagonist. On the other hand, moments like Reggie hunting for pussy at Vroman’s is strange. He dances with Candy and then flat out tells her, “If I don’t get some trim by the end of the night, Imma bust”. This is a WILD thing to say to a woman, but his doubling down by saying it’s 10:05 and he wants to be “in some flesh” by 10:10 is even crazier. She doesn’t seem like a hoe, but her going for this lazy series of pickup lines, if you can call it that, just stood out as insane behavior. The fact that he couldn’t even pay for the room and she STILL sticks around until he gets some money makes Candy look like the biggest loser in the movie, and that’s saying a lot.

Also, Luther’s motivation to aid Ganz is the fact that Ganz and Billy Bear kidnap his girlfriend Rosalie as collateral until he can get Reggie’s stolen $500k. With that being said, what the hell even happens to her? Following the bus chase/shootout scene, we never see her again.

The action is fast, intense, and engrossing, and the humor is spliced in at just the right times, never feeling forced. With Nick Nolte being a great action star with troubling tendencies and Eddie Murphy’s Reggie being a precursor to his explosion as Axel Foley in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs. is a success on all fronts. The highly suspenseful subway sequence, the shootout with the stolen city bus, and the aforementioned climax where everything comes to a boiling point turns this action comedy into one of the most satisfactory of its era. More importantly, as great as the action is, they shine just as well as a comic duo at odds, like when they are both at a loss for words when they enter Billy’s ex-girlfriend’s apartment and trash talk each other before and after for their respective lack of results. It’s fun, it’s vulgar, it’s violent, and it takes no prisoners with its content, 48 Hrs. hanging its crown on being the standard of its genre is well deserved.

Fun Fact: The idea for the film went as far back as 1971 with a much more serious, action vibe. During this timeframe, there was an idea to have Clint Eastwood as the criminal pulled out of prison to help. This was later revised to have Eastwood in Nick Nolte’s role and Richard Pryor being the criminal. The project was in limbo after Eastwood played a criminal in Escape from Alcatraz and dropped out. Another option considered for Reggie Hammond was Gregory Hines before Eddie Murphy was suggested.