axel

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

NETFLIX
After being the top movie on Netflix for almost two weeks, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F has fallen from its #1 spot on Netflix’s top 10 list. This time, it’s not to another Netflix original, but a 2023 film starring Dennis Quaid, Jay Hernandez and Cheech Marin.

That movie is The Long Game, a golf film. Here’s the synopsis:

“The film tells the true story of the San Felipe Mustangs, a group of Mexican-American youths located in Del Rio, Texas. In the 1950s, the group set out to play golf at a white country club in town. Despite prejudice, the Mustangs overcame these obstacles to become the 1957 Texas state champions.”

Supposedly it’s pretty good, with an 81% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a really excellent 97% audience score. If you haven’t heard of it, that’s because it only made $3 million worldwide in theaters, but somehow Netflix audiences have now propelled it to what is almost certainly the most watched movie in the country, given Netflix’s reach.As for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, that was a pretty triumphant return by Eddie Murphy into the role that originally propelled him to stardom. That also arrived with solid reviews and a lot of praise for his performance specifically. No word on a fifth movie after the success of this one, but I certainly would not rule it out at this point. I mean clearly there is still an appetite for Murphy and this character.

The movie that’s third on the list is a Netflix mystery that’s actually from Italy, Vanished in the Night, where a couple tries to find their missing children. Netflix’s A Family Affair has fallen down to #5 after its own long reign on top. And you guessed it, the rest of the bulk of the list is made up of the kids movies that are almost always there, Minions, Super Mario Bros and Shrek. Now we can add two more kids movies to that list, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, and 1994’s Little Rascals, of all things.

I’m not exactly expecting The Long Game to stay on top that long, but with those solid reviews and a draw like Quaid, it may do pretty well and it’s cool it’s getting more viewers after its tepid box office run. Seems like a good movie to watch with my parents when they come into town.