Rush Hour

This movie is completely formulaic; every scene in it could be guessed by someone who knew the previous work of the two actors. There's (a) Jackie Chan, playing, as he is required by law to do in two out of every three movies he makes, a Hong Kong cop. (B) is Chris Tucker playing a semi-scummy lowlife motormouth of some sort, in this case an LAPD cop (and it does not speak well for the LAPD that one has no trouble imagining Chris Tucker as LAPD). If you add these two together you get (c) scenes where Chan tries to speak black slang but can't do it right, earning the scorn of Tucker, (d) scenes where Tucker expresses voluble and profane amazement at Chan's physical trickery, (e) scenes with lots of guns, (f) scenes where Chan tries really hard to learn how to speak black slang, (g) scenes where Tucker tries to be a cool kung-fu guy, and (h) a blazing gun-packed finale with verbal and physical acrobatics aplenty. There is nothing imaginative in this film.

There is a whole lot of funny stuff, though, since these two men are two of the funniest people working in movies today. When one is relieved of the burden of anticipation, one can simply concentrate on the comic genius of Tucker and Chan more fully. Tucker speaks, bug-eyed and hyperactively, and Chan cocks his head and makes a lightning-fast movement of some sort, and both make you laugh like hell. There is a chemistry evident that I had hoped for but not dared to expect, as Tucker tries in one scene to get Chan to pronounce the soul syllable "y'all" correctly, as used in the song "War (What Is It Good For?)." Tucker makes his already bugged-out eyeballs bug out farther at one point in this film than I have ever seen a man's eyeballs bug out. Chan gets to reprise his role in "Crime Story" as the serious cop, but even his character can't resist trading barbs with Tucker and making him look stupid, which Tucker responds to with his trademark brand of profane yet mild protest.

As an action film, this is a good comedy. The action is not Hong Kong-style at all and can sometimes get pretty slow and perfunctory, except (1) in a scene in a pool hall where Chan, following Tucker's instructions to "do what I do," calls the bartender "my nigga," with predictable results (i.e, Chan has to fight about eight guys with pool cues), and (2) the drawn-out but never-boring finale featuring the requisite C4 vest, suitcase full of money, and hero-betraying villain. This is spiced up somewhat by the introduction of priceless Chinese artifacts which Chan is trying to protect while he fights, which takes some imagination, thankfully. (His eventual failure in this endeavor causes Chan to curse, which I think is the first time in his long career that I have heard him do that.)

The action is helped immensely by the fact that the villain and his henchmen both look like pure evil. All action films should cast villains based on how evil they look. Failure to consider this criterion has done in more than one otherwise worthy film (cf. "Zorro," partly).

The essential feature of this film, though, is Chan's considerable skill in making Tucker look stupid, and Tucker's considerable skill at finding small victories like saying "y'all" to crow amusingly about. I mean, fettucine alfredo is a pretty predictable dish, too, since it has about four ingredients. But if you use the finest ingredients, homemade pasta and parmigano reggiano and fresh cream, what can be a pedestrian dish indeed is elevated into the realm of the transportingly fine. So it is here, because Chan and Tucker are my two favorite comedians working in movies nowadays, ever since Jim Carrey abdicated the role by not talking out of his ass in "The Truman Show," and they make this unoriginal premise and conclusions into a thoroughly engaging argument. I was actually hoarse from laughing when the lights came up. If you're at all inclined to see this film, I urge you to.

Attractive Man Count: I have decided to give Jackie Chan a 1 on the basis that Maggie Cheung is his girlfriend, and you better be an attractive man *somehow* to keep Maggie Cheung around. He does have a certain craggy grace in this movie. The villainous henchman is also attractive, but I cannot bring myself to characterize Tucker as "attractive." 2.

Attractive Woman Count: Um, 2, I guess.

Overall Grade: A-. Maybe they'll be forced to be inventive when they write the sequel, but I'll take this.

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