Rush Hour
The plots have traditionally been disposable, even irrelevant, existing only as a thin clothesline for Jackie to hang his stunning physical skills on. His intricately choreographed action sequences are both hilarious and breathtaking, but the scenes in between have always been lacking in coherence, though good for a campy laugh or two. Rush Hour changes that dynamic by adding a new face to the mix in Chris Tucker, and it's a great strategy. Tucker keeps the movie moving along at an amusing pace in the dialogue department, keeping your ears entertained while Chan wows your eyes with his moves.
Tucker is James Carter, a flamboyant LAPD cop who pulls off an Axel Foley better than Eddie Murphy has been able to do in years - Tucker's rubber face, wide eyes and grin and helium-voiced trash talking are a perfect complement to Chan's sweet demeanor and broken English. Chan plays Detective Lee, a Hong Kong operative who is flown over to LA because the Hong Kong consulate's daughter has been kidnapped, and to bring the criminals to justice he wants Jackie. I mean, he wants Detective Lee - it's hard to keep it straight, since Chan is essentially playing himself, just as he does in every movie. (In fact, in most of his films his character is actually called "Jackie", something I find hilarious and kind of missed in Rush Hour. Why the pretense? We're obviously here to see Jackie.)
The FBI is on the case as well, and don't want some loose cannon from Hong Kong showing up and disturbing their investigation, so they call the LAPD to send over a disposable cop to baby sit Detective Lee and keep him away from the case. Enter Carter in a sporty Camaro, purple suit and shades, picking up Lee at the airport. Neither are used to working with a partner. Will the two find a common ground? Will they operate above the law to solve the crime? Of course they will. I normally don't have much patience for this formula, but Tucker and Chan are so good-natured about it and so much fun to watch that I don't care, and neither will you. You don't see a Chan flick to be surprised by plot developments or be moved by Oscar-worthy acting. Chan makes movies that are as comforting in their predictability as a Brady Bunch episode, with much the same tone of naïve fun. You know the bad guy will be brought to justice and our hero will save the day before the opening credits are through.
The surprises come, as always, in the stunts. There are plenty of minor fight scenes that show off Chan's style, which is like Bruce Lee crossed with John Cleese - astounding physical prowess and speed mixed with absurd comic timing, as when a bartender has Chan in a headlock and he picks up a barstool with his feet, jack-knifes it up and bonks the guy in the head with it, rolling away before it hits the bar. There are two scenes in particular which are stunning, one involving a traffic jam and the other in an impossibly high atrium. Chan also runs up walls, plays Who's Got the Gun? and other favorite tricks.
But without Chris Tucker the movie wouldn't have been as entertaining - it's a savvy move, as his presence makes the movie more palatable, keeping you laughing in between the actions sequences. Every Chan film ends with outtakes of failed stunts, with shots of Chan nearly getting squashed, falling off bridges, etc; oddly, this time around the outtakes are mostly just dialogue bloopers. I missed the action outtakes, if only because they show just how much work goes into those brief awe-inspiring moments, but they were still fun. And with the one major stunt in the film, any mistakes would have been near deadly, so he must have gotten it right the first time. If you're already a fan of Jackie Chan films you won't be disappointed by this one, and if you haven't seen one yet, this is a great way to get acquainted with the hardest working man in show business.
- Jared O'Connor
MOVIES
All Content © 1997, 1998 Jared O'Connor and Michael Baker