Rush Hour (1998) * * * A movie review by Serdar Yegulalp Copyright 1998 by Serdar Yegulalp
I seem to be in a minority of one, but Chris Tucker's outrageous mannerisms are beginning to grow on me. When he appeared in THE FIFTH ELEMENT as an over-the-top radio DJ, my senses misfired: my brain wasn't properly able to compute what I was seeing until I relaxed and had a good time.
The same thing applies to RUSH HOUR, a sprightly cop-buddy movie that works by being cheerful and engaging instead of cruel and mean-spirited. Don't expect it to be an immortal piece of cinema, and you'll be fine. It is also the best of the Jackie Chan vehicles to be produced in English so far -- it outstrips MR. NICE GUY by a fair margin, since that movie was little more than a weak clothesline for various action pieces. RUSH HOUR is funner and more sustained, and puts Chan up against someone who is a terrific foil.
The plot is standard-issue. A Chinese diplomat's daughter is kidnapped by a gang of criminals. The diplomat wants to enlist the help of Lee, an old cop friend of his from pre-1998 Hong Kong days. The FBI refuses to allow this, so they have the LAPD send over one of their own to "distract" him.
Carter (Tucker) catches on fast to the sleazy runaround he's been given, and tells Lee off: He doesn't want to babysit a cop; he wants to go out there and find these slimeballs. Funny thing is, Lee feels the same way, and before you know it, they're up to their elbows in suspects and explosives. All of this is, of course, sustained and interleaved with Tucker's wild-man motormouthing (which gets funnier and funnier the more you watch it) and Jackie's typically remarkable stuntwork.
What makes all of this stand out is primarily the tone and attitude. Most movies in this genre tend to be cold-blooded and unpleasant; this one's very much a romp, with good timing and pacing, and a lot of good laughs. I'm betting Jackie himself is the main reason for that, since he's professed repeatedly that he wants to make more family-oriented movies rather than John Woo-style blast-fests. Barely anyone gets shot, and most of the martial-arts stunts are about timing, object juggling, or Three Stooges-style slapstick. (There is one stunt involving an antique vase that's vintage Jackie -- although the way the stunt climaxes is a bit of a cheat.)
There is also the byplay between Chan and Tucker, much of which seems improvised (or at least minimally scripted). At one point during a stakeout, Edwin Starr's "War" comes on the radio, and Jackie attempts to sing along -- only to have Tucker coach him on how to sing with soul. In turn, Jackie teaches Tucker how to do the snatch-the-other-guy's-gun trick (and the payoff for THAT gag is a howl).
My main criterion for a comedy is simple: Did I laugh? I walked into RUSH HOUR in a terrible mood, and laughed all the way through. I don't think you can reasonably expect much more than that.
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