20 Reasons Why You Rock: Murphy’s Law
Murphy’s Law opened in theaters on April 18, 1986. It was Charles Bronson’s fourth collaboration with Cannon Films and his sixth film with J. Lee Thompson in the director’s chair.
For me personally, Murphy’s Law is my favorite Bronson movie that doesn’t include “Death Wish” in the title. With a mix of action, thrills and some humor, Murphy’s Law absolutely rocks…
#1. After the glorious Cannon logo, Murphy’s Law has a hot open that features grand theft auto, grocery bag throwing, the stolen car going through a restaurant window, an attempted arrest and a swift kick to the balls.
#2. The biggest reason that Murphy’s Law rocks is the man himself… Charles Bronson. Detective Jack Murphy was Bronson’s least vigilante character to date during his Cannon run. Jack’s personal life is in shambles and he is hitting the bottle pretty hard as a result. Then it is out of the frying pan and into the fire as Jack finds himself in an odd couple situation and having to clear his name… a slightly different role for Bronson and he did not disappoint.
#3. Jack Murphy’s partner is Detective Art Penney (played by frequent Bronson co-star, Robert F. Lyons). One of my favorite scenes is when Art is regaling Jack with a recap of his sexual escapades from the previous night with a hot number named Sheila. Jack’s complete disgust with what he is hearing is some classic Bronson acting!
#4. One of the notable supporting players in the film is Richard Romanus, who plays mob boss Frank Vincenzo. Frank is forced to step up when his brother, who was attempting to flee the country, is gunned down by Jack Murphy and it is clear that Frank may be in a bit over his head with Romanus perfectly conveying Frank’s false sense of bravado… that false bravado becomes painfully apparent when Murphy totally humiliates Frank when he falsely believes that it was Frank who set him up. But Frank’s greatest contribution to the film is in his introductory scene…
#5. Picture it… Frank Vincenzo and his elderly mother are out to dinner, when Detectives Murphy and Penney come looking for Frank’s brother Tony. Not only does Frank not tell the detectives what they want to know, Frank mentions the old adage of Murphy’s Law in a threatening manner. Which prompts the ultimate response from Jack Murphy as he shares Jack Murphy’s Law with Frank and it’s a simple one, “Don’t Fuck With Jack Murphy!”
#6. It’s time to introduce the real main villain of the movie, Joan Freeman (played by Carrie Snodgress). A female villain against tough guy Charles Bronson may not seem like a fair fight, but the movie quickly establishes how dangerous and deadly Joan Freeman can be when she kills the private detective she hired (played by Lawrence Tierney) to provide her with the addresses of all those responsible for putting her away in a mental hospital after she killed her boyfriend. Freeman is one sadistic woman and she is out for revenge!
#7. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the first interaction between Detectives Jack Murphy and Ed Reineke at the police station. It is a scene I have been known to do a dramatic reenactment of as the two cops go back and forth with insults… but when Reineke mentions seeing Murphy’s ex-wife over at Madame Tong’s and the quality of her tits, Murphy assaults him!
#8. You can’t go ahead and mention Madame Tong’s and then not show it… sure enough we get to see Jack Murphy watching his ex-wife on stage dancing topless for an appreciative crowd. Not only does this scene give us the boobs you could expect from an R Rated movie in the 80s, it also establishes that Jack Murphy has not yet moved on from his ex-wife.. which helps Joan Freeman’s cause in pinning the murder of his ex-wife on Murphy!
#9. I have stalled long enough. It is time to mention the most divisive character in the movie, Kathleen Wilhoite’s Arabella McGee. To say that McGee has a way with words would be an understatement. And it is McGee’s dialogue that turns some people off from this movie… which honestly is their loss. Maybe I have a sophomoric sense of humor, but I appreciate a film that can work in an insult like “snot licking donkey fart”.
#10. McGee is the young lady who foolishly attempts to steal Murphy’s car at the start of the film but manages to avoid being arrested. McGee is not as lucky the second time around and is taken in by Jack Murphy. Ironically, Murphy finds himself arrested the next day and handcuffed to McGee! To his credit Murphy uses this situation to his advantage as he starts bickering with her, which opens the door for Murphy to make a daring escape via police helicopter (with McGee still tethered to him Defiant Ones style). The action doesn’t end there either as they end up landing on top of a barn on a cannabis farm and then having to deal with the angry “farmers”.
#11. Following their harrowing experience at the cannabis farm, Murphy and McGee end up at the mountain cabin of Murphy’s old partner and friend Ben Wilcove played by character actor Bill Henderson. I always love when Henderson pops up in movies, whether it is delivering sofas via helicopter or training Hulk Hogan… Bill adds a little something extra and Murphy’s Law was no exception.
#12. If you ever wanted to see someone throw an overcooked omelette at Charles Bronson, then Murphy’s Law is the movie for you.
#13. Bronson was known for making sure some old time actors kept busy (and more importantly kept their SAG benefits), such was the case for Jerome Thor, who played Judge Kellerman. Kellerman is seduced at a restaurant by Joan Freeman and the two end up at a hotel… where Joan proceeds to give the Judge a bath, then drown and electrocute him!
#14. As a fellow mayonnaise hater, I had even more admiration for Jack Murphy when he spoke out against mayonnaise on sandwiches.
#15. With help from Art, Murphy figures out that Joan Freeman is the one who set him up. So Murphy and McGee go to pay Joan a visit at the seedy hotel she now calls home following her release… what they find is frequent Bronson co-star Robert Axelrod at the front desk, a dead body in Joan’s closet, trouble from Vincenzo’s men… but the whole sequence ends spectacularly, when Murphy shoots at the car Vincenzo’s men arrived in until it blows up!!
#16. The historic Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles was a fantastic setting for the movie’s big finale as Murphy had all of his enemies under one roof… Ed Reineke shows up first and reveals he is on Frank Vincenzo’s payroll. Then Frank himself goes in after his goons don’t get the job done. And of course, Joan Freeman is there (with a crossbow!). At this point, Joan had taken Arabella McGee hostage to lure Murphy to where it all started… the Bradbury Building, where Joan killed her boyfriend and where Murphy and Wilcove arrested her.
#17. You don’t have a line as great as “Jack Murphy’s Law” and not repeat it… and Frank Vincenzo finds out the hard way that you “Don’t Fuck With Jack Murphy”.
#18. Reineke ends up the victim of one of Joan Freeman’s arrows… the perfect demise for that piece of sewer trash!
#19. The final showdown between Jack Murphy and Joan Freeman is pretty epic, not only because of the action, but because of the all important one liner. Joan hanging on for her life by an axe handle tells Murphy to go to hell and he calmly responds as only Charles Bronson can… “Ladies first!” followed by Joan plunging to her death!
#20. The end credits of Murphy’s Law features the musical talent of Kathleen Wilhoite as she sings “Murphy’s Law” a song that she wrote along with John Bisharat and Bronson’s stepson, Paul McCallum.
