Rush Hour

Rush Hour has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, and in the US on YouTube TV. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. Its 7/10 TMDB score, built from 5,748 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Jackie Chan sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Put it on tonight on Amazon Prime Video and see for yourself.

There is a reason Rush Hour keeps coming up in conversation. Rush Hour gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves. The chemistry Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. Rush Hour came out in 1998. The timing in Rush Hour is precise enough that even the throwaway lines land on a second watch. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Comedy fans looking for a reliably funny watch will find it in Rush Hour. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Jackie Chan anchors an ensemble with real chemistry. Genuinely funny, consistently, across the whole run.