Premium Rush (2012)
I wasn't entirely sure how appealing I would find "Premium Rush". A story about cycle couriers, with the protagonist being a thrill seeker who rides without breaks or gears.
Still there's something ridiculously endearing about the way Joseph Gordon Levitt plays this fairly average figure. His charm is a blessing and a curse sometimes since while his transformation in "Hesher" was very effective, JGL makes a character who runs down a small child with his truck a little too easy to forgive. What's more, his gangster character in "Looper" still seems strangely sweet and cuddly, even when he's profiting from murder.
JGL's surprisingly relateable thrill seeker character has a number of co-workers in the cycle courier business. Sure it's a bit of a cliché the way one is a female love interest and the other is a friendly male rival, but they are written well enough that they feel like real people.
The world the characters inhabit, on the other hand, is a different story. Funnily enough, I'm reminded of the film 'Cargo'. "Cargo" introduced the audience to a world centred around truck drivers, their values and their concerns. 'Premium Rush' does the same with bike couriers. There's something somewhat unreal about the world they live in and the characters are sometimes exaggerated to fit into that world, but 'Premium Rush' is enough fun that you can run with it even where the situation is implausible or oversimplified.
I especially liked the short 'Run Lola Run'-esque sequences where JGL's character quickly assesses his best route through potentially fatal traffic conditions.
And let's not forget the absolutely fantastic performance from Michael Shannon as the villain. Even while some elements of the plot seem like a bit of a soap opera Shannon is consistently brilliant.
As silly fun, Premium Rush is excellent. It's not a comedy, it's not an action film, it's not a visual extravaganza, but it's a fun and engaging piece of entertainment and I was very satisfied.
B+