Eddie Murphy Turned Down Rush Hour To Make One Of His Biggest Flops

Over 40 years since he came blazing out of nowhere to save "Saturday Night Live," we are still howling at the explosive comedic brilliance of Eddie Murphy. He was still a kid when he made his big-screen debut in Walter Hill's masterful two-hander "48 Hrs.," and became the biggest star in Hollywood two years later when "Beverly Hills Cop" turned out to be the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time (which, adjusted for inflation, it still is). Every time Murphy stepped in front of a camera, audiences were prepared to laugh themselves silly, so it was somewhat disconcerting when he downshifted to third gear and gave us just funny enough throwaways like "The Golden Child," "Beverly Hills Cop II" and "Harlem Nights" (a film of true ambition that became a big-budget burden for the star, who hasn't directed a movie since).

It seemed inconceivable that Murphy could make a worse movie than "The Golden Child," but when he realized he could line up four-quadrant paydays in family films that appealed to fans of his old, dirty stuff and their children, who grew up loving him as characters like Donkey in "Shrek" and the title animal communicator of "Dr. Dolittle," we lost him a little. He was superb in "Dreamgirls" (for which he should've won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor over Alan Arkin doing dirty-old-man shtick in "Little Miss Sunshine"), excellent as the exploitation filmmaking genius Rudy Ray Moore in "Dolemite Is My Name" and playing the role of comedy point guard in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" (wherein he generously dishes out belly-laugh assists to his co-stars), but now he's back to doing uninspired product with the Tim Story-directed action-comedy "The Pickup." If you ever find yourself being directed by Tim Story in anything, you have erred tremendously.

The family stuff is bad, but it serves an entertainment purpose. And since I never wanted to have kids, I can live with the existence of the "Shrek" movies, "Daddy Day Care" and "The Haunted Mansion." That's other people's misery.

But there have been times when Murphy inexplicably made adult-skewing comedies that were so conceptually challenged, you were baffled that someone with such razor-sharp comedic instincts would waste his time and talent on them – especially when there were much better offers out there. Which brings us to the time Murphy turned down "Rush Hour" to star in a toothless satire because he wouldn't have to get in shape to play the role.

Eddie Murphy did eventually work with "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner, and the result was "Tower Heist," a star-studded caper comedy that no one, not even the people who appeared in it, remembers. I don't know if he had to hit the gym to play his character in "Tower Heist," and I'm not going to bother Googling the answer because I've officially thought about "Tower Heist" more than anyone should ever think about "Tower Heist," but... that movie is inoffensively awful. I get why Murphy did it. He'd seen the "Rush Hour" movies, and knew Ratner would give him leeway to riff his ass off.

Ratner is a rotten person, but not everyone knew this in the late '90s, so it's weird that Murphy would pass up the opportunity to play the fast-talking cop foil to Jackie Chan's Hong Kong police officer in the irresistibly hilarious/exciting "Rush Hour."

As Murphy said on Complex's "360 with Speedy Morman," it came down to a question of effort. "They came to me, it was two scripts," said Murphy. "It was 'Rush Hour,' it's going to be action-comedy and you're going to be with Jackie Chan, and it's action, it's summertime, running, all this physical stuff. This other [offer] was ['Holy Man',] 'You in a robe in Miami' – it was a no-brainer. We went to Miami and made a horrendous film, but it was easy. I have to stop saying 'horrendous.' The movie was soft, it wasn't a great picture."

Directed by the capable Stephen Herek (who made "Critters," "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," and "The Mighty Ducks"), "Holy Man" is a kind-hearted anti-consumerist satire that stars Murphy as a mysterious guru whose wisdom compels viewers of a Home Shopping Network-type channel to buy all manner of products. Written by Tom Schulman, whose "Dead Poets Society" won the Best Original Screenplay in 1989 (over Spike Lee's masterpiece "Do the Right Thing"), it's stuffed with limousine liberal whimsy. Shulman believes his huckster main characters (Jeff Goldblum and Kelly Preston), who take advantage of Murphy's anodyne observances, are good people at heart.

"Holy Man" is formula nonsense, but I don't know that it's Murphy's big-screen nadir. In terms of unmet expectations, I'll never get over the stunning limpness of "Coming 2 America" (though Wesley Snipes is pretty great in it). "The Haunted Mansion" is utterly useless on every level, so I might slot that below "Holy Man." I just know I'll never watch any of these movies again.