48 Hours
| Year: | 1982 |
| Studio: | Paramount |
| Director: | Walter Hill |
| Producer: | Joel Silver |
| Writer: | Roger Spottiswoode/Walter Hill |
| Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, James Remar, Brion James, Denise Crosby |
Fresh off his success on Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy found his natural home in this buddy cop action comedy. It predated Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour by substantial margins and not only took a grown up approach (guns, blood, swearing and violence) to a creaky genre, it showcased a great emerging talent.
Nolte is gruff cop Cates, forced to use the services of former con, the fast-talking, trash talking Reggie (Murphy) to bust the case he's working on and track down the bad guy.
But the plot is disposable. What counted here – and still does – is the chemistry that would lay down the foundations for plenty more odd-couple action pairings in years to come.