Dir. Walter Hill. 1982, 96 mins. 35mm. With Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, Annette O’Toole. A crucial work in defining the “buddy cop” film that at the same time defies all of the clichés the formula would later acquire, action master Walter Hill’s action-comedy has a SFPD inspector and career con forced to work together to crack a case. The odd couple is played, respectively, by Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, officially cementing his new superstar status with his delivery of the line “There’s a new sheriff in town.” Nolte and Murphy make a straight man–clown duo for the ages, but beneath the wisecracks and whiplash thrills is a movie that has keen insights into race relations in Reagan-era America.