Plot
Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) is a young, talented, but reckless Detroit police detective who had previously been a delinquent. His latest act of attempting to catch crooks through an unauthorized cigarette smuggling sting operation goes sour when some uniformed officers show up, questioning their suspicious activity, resulting in a high-speed chase through the city streets which earns him the wrath of his boss, Inspector Douglas Todd (Gilbert R. Hill).
Axel's childhood friend and former criminal cohort, Mikey Tandino (James Russo), shows up in his apartment (by breaking in) and tells him he is working in Beverly Hills, as a security guard, through the efforts of a mutual friend, Jenny Summers (Lisa Eilbacher). After going out to have a few drinks, both men return drunk to Axel's apartment, where Axel is knocked unconscious and Mikey is confronted by two thugs, questioning him about some missing German bearer bonds that he had shown Axel earlier. Mikey is then murdered. After being refused the investigation because of his close ties to Mikey, Axel uses the guise of taking vacation time to head to Beverly Hills to ascertain the motive and solve the crime. While there, he finds Jenny working in an art gallery and learns from her that Mikey's most recent boss was respected local art dealer Victor Maitland (Steven Berkoff), who had hired Mikey as a favor to Jenny. Axel decides to question Maitland about Mikey's employment, only to be thrown through the window by Maitland's bodyguards. Axel is promptly arrested and meets Beverly Hills police officers Sergeant John Taggart (John Ashton), Detective Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), and Lieutenant Andrew Bogomil (Ronny Cox). Bogomil assigns Rosewood and Taggart to follow Axel, and after a series of encounters, including the trio's foiling of a robbery in a striptease bar, the three develop a mutual respect.
On the trail of Mikey's suspected killers, Axel sneaks into one of Maitland's art warehouses and soon begins to suspect that Maitland is involved in some questionable activities, including Mikey's murder. He finds coffee grounds in the warehouse and, after some intuitive undercover work, realizes that many of Maitland's boxes had not even gone through customs. After Axel is arrested again, this time after a scuffle at Maitland's country club, Bogomil demands to know why Axel is bothering Maitland. Axel finally admits that he suspects Maitland to be a smuggler, but is unsure of what exactly he is smuggling. He mentions the coffee grounds that he had found as proof. Bogomil, knowing that coffee grounds are often used to throw off drug-sniffing dogs, seems to believe Axel's story, but Police Chief Hubbard reprimands Bogomil for all of the chaos that Axel had caused and orders that he be escorted out of town. However, Axel convinces Rosewood to pick up Jenny and take her with them to Maitland's warehouse, where a shipment is due to arrive that day.
Axel and Jenny break into the warehouse and discover several bags of cocaine inside a shipping crate. Axel tells Jenny to get Rosewood, but Maitland and his associates arrive at that moment. Maitland kidnaps Jenny and leaves Axel to be roughed up by his goons. Rosewood, after some hesitation, enters the warehouse and rescues Axel. Taggart tracks Axel and Rosewood to Maitland's estate, where Axel and Rosewood finally convince him of Maitland's shady dealings. Taggart joins Axel and Rosewood in their efforts to rescue Jenny and bring Maitland to justice. When Bogomil sees that Taggart and Rosewood are absent, then hears reports of shots fired at Maitland's residence, he calls for backup at the location and heads out to join up with the others. After a firefight that kills most of Maitland's associates, Axel kills Maitland's right-hand man Zack, who was responsible for Mikey's murder. Maitland himself shoots and injures Axel, then taunts him by using Jenny as a shield. Bogomil's timely arrival distracts Maitland long enough to allow Jenny to break free; Bogomil and Axel then fire repeatedly at Maitland, killing him.
By the time Chief Hubbard has reached Maitland's estate, numerous marked police units are on scene to clean up after the earlier mess. Bogomil fabricates a story for Hubbard that covers for Axel, Taggart and Rosewood. When Hubbard asks Taggart to confirm Bogomil's story, Taggart, after having made things worse earlier by not covering for Axel following the bar incident, lies and backs up Bogomil. Realizing that he will probably be out of a job in Detroit, thanks to his adventures in Beverly Hills, Axel asks Bogomil to speak to Inspector Todd and smooth things over for him. Bogomil is initially reluctant, but relents after Axel talks about staying in Beverly Hills on a more permanent basis.
Taggart and Rosewood go to see Axel off after he checks out of his hotel. Axel invites the partners to join him for a farewell drink before he takes off for home, and the two accept.
Read more about this topic: Beverly Hills Cop
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“The plot was most interesting. It belonged to no particular age, people, or country, and was perhaps the more delightful on that account, as nobody’s previous information could afford the remotest glimmering of what would ever come of it.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
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—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“There comes a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to till.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)