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Rush Hour

1998, Movie, PG-13, 94 mins

Rush Hour: Review

RUSH HOUR
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Brash, stupid and surprisingly watchable, this picture puts just the slightest spin on the 48 HRS. formula, which throws together a smart-mouthed African-American charmer and an older, by-the-book, white authority figure so they can bicker, spar and solve some crime that more conventional law-enforcement types can't crack. Now the straight man is martial-arts legend Jackie Chan, playing Hong Kong cop Inspector Lee. He's summoned to L.A. by his old pal Consul Han (Tzi Ma) to investigate the kidnapping of Han's young daughter, Soo Yung (Julia Hsu). But the FBI doesn't want Lee's help, so they press-gang arrogant LAPD screwup James Carter (Chris Tucker) into pretending to work with him while actually keeping Lee out of the way. Needless to say, neither Carter nor Lee is into this babysitting gig, and after they're done playing adolescent tricks on each other they get down to the business of finding Soo Yung. Now, the thing that made 48 HRS. such an exhilarating, unpredictable ride was that it took all its elements seriously: The crime stuff was tough and bloody, while the mismatched buddy comedy was edgy and razor-sharp. Some 15 years down the line, the formula has gotten soft: The crime story here is lazily constructed, mostly an excuse for the give-and-take between Tucker and Chan, which is shrill and raucous without being especially clever. That said, the movie skims along at a pretty decent clip -- though the climax comes about 15 minutes too late -- and gives Chan (who's concentrating very hard on his English-language lines) ample opportunity to demonstrate both his trademark skills: lightning-fast martial-arts action and graceful physical comedy. Tucker's one-note shtick is abrasive -- Carter is pompous, conceited, reckless, not so bright and a relentless hound dog -- but he and Chan occasionally spark a genuine comic rapport. leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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