---
name: "Martin Brest"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/martin-brest"
fi1m_id: "martin-brest"
imdb_id: "nm0000976"
tmdb_id: 769
wikidata_id: "Q363117"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "8 August 1951"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 62
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-04T19:02:41.302420+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Martin Brest

## Identity

Martin Brest

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/martin-brest
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** martin-brest
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000976
- **TMDB ID:** 769
- **Wikidata ID:** Q363117
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Brest, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q363117, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000976/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/769

Director and producer. Born 8 August 1951 in The Bronx, New York City, New York.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 8 August 1951, The Bronx, New York City, New York
- **Active:** 1982–2003
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 6: 2 acting, 4 directing
- **Frequently works with:** [John Ashton](https://film.one/person/john-ashton.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 62, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 65 (4), 1990s 75 (1), 2000s 32 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 62 to 62 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Crime 3, Drama 2, Action 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $496m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Brest, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q363117, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000976/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/769

## Streaming the US now

- **Pluto TV:** [*Beverly Hills Cop*](https://film.one/film/beverly-hills-cop.md) (55)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Gigli*](https://film.one/film/gigli.md) (32)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Martin Brest

> Martin Brest gets good drama from difficult company, giving his actors time to make uneven relationships convincing. We value that patience, though *Scent of a Woman* also shows his reluctance to end a conversation once it has done its work.

In *Scent of a Woman* (1992), Al Pacino’s Frank Slade expects to do the talking, leaving Chris O’Donnell’s Charlie to work out how to answer him. Martin Brest gives both sides of that exchange time, even when one side is mostly listening. This is where we find him most persuasive: making an uneven relationship worth following through small changes in how two people treat each other. We warmed to the pair because Charlie’s patient responses made Slade’s abrasiveness something we could stay with. Brest trusts the actors to make familiar material interesting, and they do.

That interest in performers runs through a career that moved from *Going in Style* (1979), with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg, to the action and comedy of *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984) and *Midnight Run* (1988). The former put Eddie Murphy at its centre; the latter paired Robert De Niro with Charles Grodin in a road comedy. The buddy format suited Brest’s interest in mixing action, comedy and feeling.

*Scent of a Woman* shows both the benefit of that patience and its cost. Editors Harvey Rosenstock, Michael Tronick and William Steinkamp give Pacino and O’Donnell the space to establish a rhythm, but too many exchanges continue once we understand the balance between them. At 156 minutes, the film asks a narrow relationship to sustain more than it comfortably can. We do not need the difficult older man and the younger listener to surprise us, but we do need their conversations to move on. Brest is good at letting Charlie find an answer and less good at bringing Slade to a halt.

Later, *Meet Joe Black* (1998), with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, drew criticism for its length and uneven tone. *Gigli* (2003) was widely panned after studio-mandated rewrites and reshoots altered Brest’s original vision. That interference matters when assigning responsibility, though it cannot tell us whether the film he intended would have worked. Brest stopped directing after it, but that is no reason to dismiss the earlier films. Start with *Scent of a Woman* for the performances, provided nobody on the sofa is in a hurry.

## Biography

Martin Brest (born 8 August 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was born in the Bronx, New York City, and studied at New York University and the American Film Institute.

Brest made his feature debut with *Going in Style* (1979). He directed the comedies *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984) and *Midnight Run* (1988), followed by *Scent of a Woman* (1992), which he also produced. The film earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. He later directed *Meet Joe Black* (1998) and *Gigli* (2003). His student short *Hot Dogs for Gauguin* (1972) was selected for the National Film Registry.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (6)

### Performed in (2)

- *Spies Like Us* (1985), Fi1m 47, as Drive-In Security — [page](https://film.one/film/spies-like-us.md)
- *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982), Fi1m 70, as Dr. Miller — [page](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.md)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *Gigli* (2003), Fi1m 32, Director, Producer, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/gigli.md)
- *Scent of a Woman* (1992), Fi1m 75, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/scent-of-a-woman.md)
- *Midnight Run* (1988), Fi1m 88, as Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/midnight-run.md)
- *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984), Fi1m 55, as Beverly Palms Hotel Checkout Clerk (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/beverly-hills-cop.md)

## Complete filmography (14)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *One Battle After Another* (2025), Thanks — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/one-battle-after-another.md)
- *Going in Style* (2017), Original Film Writer
- *Gigli* (2003), Director, Producer, Writer — Fi1m 32, [page](https://film.one/film/gigli.md)
- *Meet Joe Black* (1998), Director, Producer
- *Josh & S.A.M.* (1993), Producer
- *Scent of a Woman* (1992), Producer, Director — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/scent-of-a-woman.md)
- *Midnight Run* (1988), as Airline Ticket Clerk (uncredited) · Producer, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/midnight-run.md)
- *Spies Like Us* (1985), as Drive-In Security — Fi1m 47, [page](https://film.one/film/spies-like-us.md)
- *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984), as Beverly Palms Hotel Checkout Clerk (uncredited) · Director — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/beverly-hills-cop.md)
- *Fast Times at Ridgemont High* (1982), as Dr. Miller — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/fast-times-at-ridgemont-high.md)
- *Going in Style* (1979), Director, Screenplay
- *Hot Tomorrows* (1977), Writer, Editor, Director
- *Minestrone* (1975), Assistant Director
- *Hot Dogs for Gauguin* (1972), as Man on Ferry · Director, Editor, Writer

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1993: Best Director (nominated), for *Scent of a Woman*
- 1993: Best Picture (nominated), for *Scent of a Woman*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/martin-brest