Beverly Hills Cop: 10 Best Axel Foley Quotes In All 4 Movies

Summary Axel Foley has a ton of quotable one-liners from all four Beverly Hills Cop movies.

Axel is the perfect role for Eddie Murphy, utilizing his motormouth improvisational skills in undercover situations.

Even the less-than-stellar Beverly Hills Cop sequels have memorable lines.

Beverly Hills Cop’s Axel Foley is one of the most beloved and iconic characters in movie history – and the motormouth Detroit detective has plenty of hilarious lines across all four films. It’s no wonder why Axel has persisted as one of Eddie Murphy’s longest-running characters, because Axel is the perfect role to utilize Murphy’s comedic talents. Murphy is a master improviser and a nearly unparalleled character actor. These skills transferred to his performance as Axel because, as an undercover cop who has to talk his way in and out of uncomfortable situations, Axel is both of those things, too.

Netflix’s new addition to the franchise, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, might be the best sequel that this series has delivered – and it added a bunch of new quotable lines to Axel’s repertoire. While Beverly Hills Cop II veers more on the action side of the action comedy subgenre and Beverly Hills Cop III has been widely panned as the weakest entry in the series, they both have plenty of quotable Axel lines, too. From biting insults to razor-sharp observations, Axel has plenty of memorable one-liners from the Beverly Hills Cop movies.

10 "I'm In Town, But I've Been Arrested. Hello?"

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

The latest entry in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, revolves around Axel’s relationship with his estranged daughter, Jane Saunders, a successful defense attorney. When Jane is targeted by a mysterious criminal organization, Axel returns to Beverly Hills to get to the bottom of it. Much like his first trip to Beverly Hills, Axel is arrested shortly upon his arrival. When he gets to jail and he’s given his one phone call, Axel decides to call Jane.

Even under the best of circumstances, Jane is likely to hang up on her father. When Jane answers the phone, Axel pleads with her not to hang up. She doesn’t hang up straight away. But as soon as Axel tells her he’s in town and he’s been arrested, she immediately puts the phone down. This was a hilarious way to introduce their strained relationship (and how frustrating it is to have Axel Foley as a parent).

9 "This Is The Cleanest And Nicest Police Car I've Ever Been In In My Life. This Thing's Nicer Than My Apartment."

Beverly Hills Cop

The early scenes of Beverly Hills Cop introduce the kind of environment that Axel is used to. His precinct in Detroit is a crowded mess, his apartment is a pigsty, and his streets are filled with small-time crooks. A big part of the film’s humor comes from the culture clash of a Detroit native enjoying all the luxuries and niceties of Beverly Hills. Axel finds that even the police cars are luxurious in Beverly Hills.

After he’s arrested and put in the back of a squad car, Axel waives his right to remain silent so he can comment on the niceness of the car. He says it’s the cleanest police car he’s ever seen – and not only that, it’s even cleaner than his apartment. This is a great line, because it highlights just how different this world is from Axel’s.

8 "Are You Driving With Your Eyes Open? Or Are You, Like, Using The Force?"

Beverly Hills Cop II

Pop culture references are the source of a lot of gags in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. When Axel is pretending to be a journalist, he says he’s working on a piece entitled “Michael Jackson is Sitting on Top of the World.” When a criminal identifies Axel as a cop during an undercover job, Axel throws the accusation back in his face and claims that this criminal is Dirty Harry himself.

In Beverly Hills Cop II, when Axel and his pal Billy Rosewood need a vehicle, much to Axel’s surprise, Billy gets them a cement mixer. As Billy smashes into every car in his path in this cement mixer, Axel asks him if he’s driving with his eyes open or he’s using the Force. This Star Wars reference is a perfect reaction to Billy’s reckless driving.

7 "I Didn't Realize You Couldn't Fly A Helicopter. Otherwise, I'd Come Up With A Different Idea."

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

The central investigation in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F pairs Axel with Jane’s ex-boyfriend, a Beverly Hills detective named Bobby Abbott. Early on in the film, it’s vaguely confirmed that Bobby used to be an air support officer who flew helicopters over the city, but it’s unclear why he left that department and became a detective on the ground. Bobby finally reveals why he left air support at the worst possible time.

Axel concocts an escape plan that involves stealing a helicopter, and he forces Bobby to get in the cockpit and fly it. While they’re in the air, Bobby reveals that he crashed a helicopter and he’s been afraid to fly ever since. As the chopper careens towards a private golf course, Axel casually mentions that if he knew that, he would’ve come up with a different plan. This hilariously exemplifies Axel’s grace under fire.

6 "Can I Stay For A While, 'Cause I Ordered Some Pizza?"

Beverly Hills Cop

After enjoying a comfortable ride in a clean police car, Axel finds that the jail cells in Beverly Hills are luxurious, too. To Axel’s surprise, his cell has a phone in it. If he wanted to, he could just kick back, chat to his friends, and run up a hefty phone bill while he’s waiting to be processed. When the officers come to collect him and let him out of his cell, Axel says he’s never been in a cell with a phone in it before.

Axel asks the cops if he can stay in the cell a little longer, because he used the phone to order a pizza. Ordering a pizza to the police station where he’s locked behind bars is the most ridiculous thing Axel could’ve done with the phone in his cell. This line highlights Axel’s uniquely absurdist worldview.

5 "I Told You I Was Investigating A Crime, And I Think I'm In The Right Place As I've Been Here 10 Minutes And I've Already Been Shot At."

Beverly Hills Cop III

Although Beverly Hills Cop III is widely regarded to be the weakest entry in the franchise, it still has its moments. The threequel sees Axel reuniting with Rosewood to take on a gang of counterfeiters operating out of a local amusement park called Wonder World. It’s the same gang who shot Axel’s boss, so, as always, he has a personal investment in his Beverly Hills investigation.

While it’s not as much fun as a trip to a theme park with Axel Foley sounds, Beverly Hills Cop III has some great lines. When Axel is accosted at Wonder World, he explains that he’s investigating a crime and jokes that since he’s already been shot at, he must be in the right place. This line hysterically points out Axel’s dry sense of humor and his cool demeanor in the face of life-threatening danger.

4 "Floral Delivery Is My Life."

Beverly Hills Cop

What makes Axel the ultimate Eddie Murphy character is that, like Murphy, he’s a motormouth improviser who embodies ludicrous characters. Whereas Murphy is an A-list comedian, Axel uses his performances to gain access to key locations that will help with an ongoing investigation. When he arrives at Victor Maitland’s office in the first film, he decides to portray a delivery man who’s there to deliver some flowers that Maitland ordered.

Maitland’s receptionist says they’ll take the flowers up for him, but Axel insists on being the one to hand Maitland’s flowers to him. The receptionist tells Axel he’s not supposed to go upstairs, but Axel claims it’s “imperative” that he deliver the flowers himself. With a straight face, Axel hilariously tells the receptionist, “Floral delivery is my life.” Another ridiculous character is born: the passionate, dead-serious floral delivery man.

3 "Who Do You Think You Are, Clint Eastwood? Dirty Rosewood?"

Beverly Hills Cop II

Rosewood has always been the laughingstock of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. Taggart rolled his eyes when Rosewood tried to tell a legion of gun-toting goons to stop in the name of the law. Axel teased Rosewood about getting hot under the collar when he took them to a strip club. But in Beverly Hills Cop II, Rosewood learned from the mistakes he made in the first movie.

Following the deadly nightclub shootout that they narrowly survived, Rosewood is shown to have gotten himself a giant pistol. When he pulls out this pistol, Axel jokes that Rosewood thinks he’s Clint Eastwood and calls him “Dirty Rosewood.” Picturing Billy Rosewood in Eastwood’s place in Dirty Harry’s “Well, do ya, punk?” scene, holding a bank robber at gunpoint while casually chewing on a hot dog, is a hilarious image.

2 "Part Of Me Would Rather Get Locked Up Than Get Put In This Little Fisher-Price-Looking Squad Car."

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

After a violent run-in with some crooks who were ransacking Rosewood’s P.I. office in the first act of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Axel is promptly arrested. As the arresting officers take Axel to their squad car to put him in the back, he takes a bunch of potshots at the size of their car. Police cars are supposed to be intimidating symbols of authority, but Axel jokes that this car looks more like a Fisher-Price toy than a symbol of authority.

This is another hilarious example of Axel brazenly waiving his right to remain silent. Axel has far too much to say to remain silent for the entire duration of an arrest and booking process. When he sees a little police car like this, he can’t help but make a snide comment about it.

1 "What's The F****** Charge For Getting Pushed Out Of A Moving Car, Huh? Jaywalking?"

Beverly Hills Cop

After sneaking into Maitland’s office and confronting him with evidence of his crimes, Axel is quickly grabbed by Maitland’s goons and thrown through the front window onto the street. But as far as Axel is concerned, being thrown out of a window isn’t the most egregious part; getting arrested for it is the most egregious part. As a couple of officers handcuff Axel, read him his Miranda rights, and put him in the back of their squad car, Axel can’t believe it. Axel asks what charge he’s being arrested on and the cops say, “Disturbing the peace.”

Axel is still just as baffled that being thrown out of a window constitutes “disturbing the peace.” He makes the hilarious comparison that someone who got pushed out of a moving car could be charged with “jaywalking.” This might be the funniest moment in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, not only because it’s a great joke, but because it ties directly to the situation and the characters involved.