48 Hrs.

Name: 48 Hrs.
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Released: December 8, 1982
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 71
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte

1982

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 137 Ratings

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8.4

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8.4	User Score Universal acclaim based on 137 Ratings

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48 Hrs

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: December 8, 1982 | R

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte

Summary: Detective Jack Cates (Nolte) takes convict Reggie Hammond (Murphy) out of jail for forty-eight hours to solve a case.

Director: Walter Hill

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 96 min

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

What makes the movie special is how it's made. Nolte and Murphy are good, and their dialogue is good, too - quirky and funny. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Together Cates and Hammond take a thrill-a-minute trip through the San Francisco underworld and along the way develop one of the 1980s' more interesting cinematic buddy pairings. Read full review

Empire Ian Nathan

That the fact they come to appreciate one other, the grudging respect of a million clichés, feels so satisfyingly, shows just how successful the film is. Read full review

Jay Scott

A quick and clever thriller as nasty as a piece of shrapnel snapping the sound barrier, 48 Hrs. is as violent as it is funny. It is very funny. [03 Dec 1982]

Dave Kehr

The film is still an entertaining and invigorating thriller, with a structure and some curious sexual overtones that suggest Howard Hawks's "A Girl in Every Port." Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

48Hrs. is a very efficient action entertainment which serves as a showy motion picture debut for Eddie Murphy. Read full review

Richard Schickel

Neither jokes nor fast, flashy action can completely distract audiences from the failure to establish an authentic, rather than a purely conventional connection between Nolte and Murphy. Read full review

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User Reviews

IznatiCritic

Aug 31, 2010

An Eddie Murphy classic. Is this movie going to change the way we view life??? No. But it will keep you laughing and nervous at the same time and that is a delicate balance, one highly underrated. I like to rate films within their genre. And for its genre it is at least a 9 !!!!

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

Steven1981

Mar 18, 2020

Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy star in this 1982 action comedy. Directed by Walter Hill (Red Heat) it is a pretty simple piece of film making with a simple story. The story is some criminal escapes and a cop, Jack Cates (Nolte) releases some convict from prison named Reggie Hammond (Murphy) toNick Nolte and Eddie Murphy star in this 1982 action comedy. Directed by Walter Hill (Red Heat) it is a pretty simple piece of film making with a simple story. The story is some criminal escapes and a cop, Jack Cates (Nolte) releases some convict from prison named Reggie Hammond (Murphy) to help Cates catch the criminal. What Reggie's connection to Ganz the criminal is in the movie I've never figured out and I've seen 48 He's a million times lol. The connection is actually very unclear but anyway the criminal is played by James Remar and Sonny Landham is part of his gang, sadly Sonny Landham is dead in real life so R.I.P to him. So what 48 Hrs delivers in terms of entertainment is a few things, a story to think about because all of it's not 100% clear besides the obvious and a great fight scene between cop and convict as Murphy and Nolte have a fistfight on the street lol. The comedy is fairly decent and some scenes are funny especially when Eddie Murphy says to Nolte you've treated me like crap and I want some food and the next thing you know Nolte says to Murphy "There's ya god damn dinner!!" after taking a candybar out of a vending machine which is hilarious. Some good shooting scenes but sadly no explosions, 48 Hrs isn't big on violence but the violence it has is fairly decent allowing for the characters to develop and the story to be more involved rather than being flooded with blood and guts. Great performances and great acting especially from Annette O'Toole as 48 Hrs remains an action classic and decent comedy.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

TheFilmDoctor

Mar 22, 2016

Although dated, there is a brute edginess to this popular slice of formula odd coupling. It’s not just about Eddie Murphy’s foul-mouthed comebacks, although they were never as bouncy or cutting as here, or Nick Nolte’s irresponsible bullyboy pose he has spent the rest of his career trying toAlthough dated, there is a brute edginess to this popular slice of formula odd coupling. It’s not just about Eddie Murphy’s foul-mouthed comebacks, although they were never as bouncy or cutting as here, or Nick Nolte’s irresponsible bullyboy pose he has spent the rest of his career trying to unseat, but also the way Walter Hill pitches a ready Hollywood staple into a harder, dare-we-say more realistic world. It’s as if Lemmon and Matthau had stumbled into The French Connection, with the added spice of race.

Indeed, there’s more than a casual tip-of-the-hat in Murphy’s (possibly career best) scene in which, posing as a cop, he saunters into a redneck bar, Confederate Flag pressed to the wall, humming with racist lunks, and jives his way to supremacy. It’s the direct inverse of Gene Hackman’s take-over of a black-filled Harlem bar in that famous thriller. “I'm your worst **** nightmare, man!” snaps Reggie to the dumbstruck clientele. “A **** with a badge.” The writing is an equal to Murphy’s whiplash tongue.

As this is a film by Hill, who has busily traded in a violent, earthbound machismo (Southern Comfort, The Warriors) it hardly pulls its punches. If anything, this must surely count as the most violent “comedy” in film history, as Hill dwells on the many bare-knuckle beatings (usually involving Nolte) that are his particular filmic peccadillo. Yet, he’s also a skilled purveyor of a piquant, scuzzy atmosphere, a lurid, criminal underbelly where it takes two distrustful specimens to further the cause of good.

Their story is regulation potboiling, the bad-guys are simply that, bad to the bone, the good guys have the bonus of character and the two stars are having a ball. Nolte no less than the showpiece his partner grants, threads in a sense of pressing moral determination beneath his louche, jack-the-rules exterior. That the fact they come to appreciate one other, the grudging respect of a million clichés, feels so satisfyingly, shows just how successful the film is.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

muldjord

Feb 29, 2020

Even though the movie has not aged well, that is sort of also what makes it a nice watch even in 2020. I can't figure out if all the hard-cop "cool" stuff going on at all times was meant to come off as comedic back then, but it surely is nowadays. It's so bizarre how macho this movie triesEven though the movie has not aged well, that is sort of also what makes it a nice watch even in 2020. I can't figure out if all the hard-cop "cool" stuff going on at all times was meant to come off as comedic back then, but it surely is nowadays. It's so bizarre how macho this movie tries to be - it becomes utterly ridiculous.
My favorite parts are whenever Cates gets into a car and drives off. How he has to screech around corners ALL. THE. TIME! Even when they are shadowing the Luther guy, they are yelling and making a ruckus you wouldn't believe. And Cates constantly lighting cigarettes and throwing them wherever. Even inside! It's some underplayed subtle practical humor going on that kind of makes the movie work. But I can't figure out if it's actually supposed to be funny... It has to be, right? I mean, this was not seen as tough in the 80's was it? Or was it? I dunno.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

royalguy07

Aug 17, 2022

A lot has not seemingly aged well in terms of the racial and homophobic language, especially when the lead you are supposed to be rooting for is doing it. Greatly enjoyed the performances. Was mentally unprepared for a young dark haired Jonathan Banks.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

JeBjBo

Jan 10, 2023

I don't particularly like Eddie Murphy, just not my type of humor, but this is a fun time.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Broyax

Oct 4, 2020

Le film de "potes" que tout oppose, qui ne sont pas potes mais qui le deviennent par la force des choses (et des vannes) parce qu'à la fin du script, il est écrit que chacun gagne le respect mutuel de l'autre, une sorte de prototype du vivre ensemble en somme.

Bien sûr, le flic blanc et leLe film de "potes" que tout oppose, qui ne sont pas potes mais qui le deviennent par la force des choses (et des vannes) parce qu'à la fin du script, il est écrit que chacun gagne le respect mutuel de l'autre, une sorte de prototype du vivre ensemble en somme.

Bien sûr, le flic blanc et le détenu noir réunis à l'insu de leur plein gré sont l'occasion pour le film d'exploiter tous les clichés possibles ("négro" et "face de craie", taulard et flicard) qui tombent rapidement dans la répétition et la lourdeur, d'autant que les deux acteurs surjouent plus qu'à leur tour et en font des tonnes.

On a donc d'une part, Nick Nolte qui incarne le beauf bourrin comme on en fait plus, millésime 1982, et d'autre part l'agité Eddie Murphy dont la gouaille vulgaire a fait le succès par la suite. Le film est donc souvent bas de plafond... mais de temps en temps assez violent avec les fusillades réglementaires lors de la traque récurrente du vilain méchant évadé et de son vilain complice.

Le film reste globalement trop mollasson et végète dans sa gentille satire bas de gamme où tout le monde se chambre et s'insulte plus ou moins joyeusement -en dehors même de nos deux petzouilles entre eux- car tout le monde est de mauvaise humeur dans cette ville de blaireaux. C'est filmé correctement (pas comme les polars de maintenant) et la chouette musique de James Horner est efficace.

Mais on déplore trop de chutes de rythme, le duo s'essouffle et commence à meubler en attendant que les scénaristes cocaïnomanes trouvent une idée pour conclure ce navet de luxe, certes, mais un gros navet quand même !… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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