PREMIUM RUSH: As Silly As It Is Thrilling

PREMIUM RUSH (Dir. David Koepp, 2012)

We first meet Joseph Gordon-Levitt in mid-air as he falls in slow motion off his bicycle to the opening synth progression of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” in the first minute of this thriller.

We don’t learn how this accident came about until later in the movie, because this is one of those fractured narratives that backs up in time, moves forward, then back again, sometimes through the same scenes, but from other perspectives, with an onscreen clock popping up to let us know where we’re at.

It’s a gimmicky and self-consciously flashy approach, but it weaves as swiftly through the film as Gordon-Levitt does through the streets of Manhattan as a bike-messenger who just might have a death-wish, as his co-workers note.

You see, Gordon-Levitt, who dropped out from Columbia University's law school, doesn’t believe in brakes, and has fixed gears on his beat-up bike. His mind seems only set to quickly figure out the best route through traffic and pedestrians so we get to see his imagined scenarios for the disastrous routes he decides against, which is pretty neat. As are full screen shots of Gordon-Levitt’s GPS system, and CGI projections of the cityscape that show thick yellow lines representing his path.

Our hero’s dangerous job gets even more life threatening when he picks up an envelope that contains something that a corrupt cop (Michael Shannon) is after. This MacGuffin propels the big compelling cat and mouse game that is PREMIUM RUSH, an experience that’s engaging enough that one can ignore lame lines (Shannon actually yells: “Aw, come on! Give it to me!”), and a few overly contrived set-pieces.

None of that gets in the way of the fun. There’s spirited energy in the stunt-work (Gordon-Levitt did some of his own stunts - one of which led to a bust-up with a taxi), the sharp cinematography of the streets (shot by Mitchell Amundsen), and the largely likable casting, including Dania Ramirez as Gordon-Levitt’s tough girlfriend, Wolé Parks as his rival who's trying to woo Ramirez, The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi as a wise-cracking dispatch, and Jamie Chung as a scared young Chinese woman who’s wrapped up with whatever’s in that mysterious envelope.

Gordon-Levitt carries the movie with confidence, but in Shannon as the villain we just might have the best comic performance of the summer. I’m serious - his turn as the twisted sociopathic gambling-addicted cop chasing Gordon-Levitt is hilarious with his squeaky maniacal laugh, and cranky complaints about his pained predicaments. Shannon’s funnier than either Will Ferrell or Zach Galifianakis in THE CAMPAIGN, or nearly any other character in a recent comedy that I can think of. He obviously had a blast playing the part, and it's a blast to watch him steal every scene he's in.

The as-silly-as-it-is-thrilling PREMIUM RUSH isn’t premium entertainment, but it’s a good fast-paced piece of escapism for the late summer. When it cuts to a video clip of Gordon-Levitt taken right after he really smashed into the back window of a taxi during the end credits, you can see that even in injury they were laughing about it and having a great time. For a considerable amount of its 91-minute running time, I was too.

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A Couple Of New Release DVDs: SECRET WINDOW, BAD SANTA, & 50 FIRST DATES

Now out on DVD:

SECRET WINDOW
(Dir. David Koepp, 2004)

Johnny Depp plays a tortured suspense novelist named Mort Rainey (credit there for having a protagonist named Mort) accused of plagiarism in this adaptation of a Stephen King short story. 

A strange hillbilly character (John Turturro) shows up at Depp's door claiming that Mort stole his story and threatens Mort's and his love one's lives if he doesn't change the ending and give him proper credit. Mort (sorry I just love typing that name) is tortured because his wife of 10 years (Maria Bello) left him for a straight laced never smiling Timothy Hutton who himself played a tortured writer in King's THE DARK HALF but I digress.

So Mort's dog is found dead and he goes to the local police who of course are ineffective and he wanders around his cabin in the woods overreacting and over-acting to every startling sound. I'm not going to give anything away but the resolution of this is so contrived and ridiculous that it brought back memories of IDENTITY or as I like to call it, A NIGHT AT THE RED HERRING MOTEL.

It's getting harder and harder to accept movie premises in which any given character may be a figment of someone's imagination and that certain incidents may never have occured at all. "The ending is the most important part" Mort says at one point and he's he right - it surely was important to me when this piece of derivative doggerel was going to end.

Special Features: Commentary by Director Koepp, trailers, deleted scenes, a few featurettes, and storyboards.

BAD SANTA
(Dir. Terry Zwigoff, 2003)

Director Zwigoff and star Billy Bob Thornton are slumming it here, but, oh, what a glorious slum it is. 

Thornton plays a boozing foul-mouthed department store Santa who with his little person partner in crime (Tony Cox) have a consistent seasonal scam going in which they break into the safes of the stores that employ them. When Thornton befriends a chubby brain-dead rich kid (Brett Kelly out credited as "The Kid") who believes he's the real Kris Kringle, our perpetually pissed-off title character finds that his heart grows a half a size bigger.

John Ritter, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, and an un-credited Cloris Leachman provide ample comic support, in this funny film that shows that Twigoff's  first foray into more commercial territory has just as much edge as his earlier artsier efforts (CRUMB, GHOST WORLD). No doubt the Coen brothers, who executive produced and reportedly did some script doctoring, helped with that transition.

BAD SANTA is good crude stuff that brings to mind other enjoyable lowbrow fare like SHAKES THE CLOWN and RUTHLESS PEOPLE. It's a future cult movie if there ever was one.

The bonus material on the DVD is basic but welcome: a behind-the-scenes feature, deleted & alternate scenes, and outtakes. An "Unrated Edition" is also available.

50 FIRST DATES
(Dir. Peter Segel, 2003)

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore try to work their WEDDING SINGER-style magic in this tropical romantic comedy about a guy having to re-win the heart of his love every day as her memory is erased every night while she sleeps. It's a convoluted premise with very little imagination and the usual cheap humor (sloppy scatalogical gags, strained physical antics, Rob Schneider, etc.) found in a Sandler flick. It does have some genuine heart to it so there are people who may like it but to most film buff folks it will be erased from memory while they sleep.

Special features: Gag reel, deleted scenes, "Making of" featurette, music videos, and Talkin' Pidgin featurette (whatever that is).

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