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On Sky Movies Modern Greats 07/12/09 21:00

Director: Walter Hill

Stars: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, James Remar, Annette O'Toole

Year: 1982 Running Time: 97 mins Rating:

Nick Nolte is the grizzled cop saddled with Eddie Murphy's wise-cracking crook in Walter Hill's much-loved, much-quoted action thriller. When a pair of escaped convicts gun down two of his colleagues, tough, white San Francisco cop Jack Cates (Nolte) is forced to spring smooth-talking black criminal Reggie Hammond (Murphy) from jail on a two-day release to help him track down the killers. A surefire hit that paved the way for every buddy caper from Midnight Run to Rush Hour.

Review

Eddie Murphy made a terrific film debut in this at times overheated police thriller with some sensational deep-driving music. It teams a white redneck cop (Nick Nolte) with a hip black convict (Eddie Murphy), growling and shrieking their way through the manhunt for the team that has blown away two careless policemen. The action has some good moments, especially towards the end, and Murphy's swaggering performance made him a megastar of the movies.