‘Premium Rush’ delivers: the Spectrum review
“Premium Rush” stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Wilee, a Columbia Law dropout-turned-bike messenger, who must deliver an important package from Lerner Hall to Chinatown right away.
First things first: Columbia is depicted a little imprecisely, but it ends up looking kind of awesome. Lerner C555 becomes a spacious student café. There are bike racks and food carts on campus, in useful locations!
In one dramatic scene, Roone turns into a huge, sinister, interrogation room (I laughed, inappropriately). And Lerner somehow delivers a package on time.
There is a great reference to our Columbia, however, when Wilee angrily phones his dispatcher, suspicious that his package contains illegal drugs. The dispatcher protests: “It can’t be drugs! This package is from a highly respected east coast college!” Then, in a secret aside, he muses: “Probably drugs…”
More importantly, though: “Premium Rush” truly delivers in its surprisingly accurate, adrenaline-pumping portrayal of what it’s like to ride like a maniac in New York City’s warlike streets. It’s gritty. It’s original. And it’s a ton of fun.
Gordon-Levitt, who dropped out of Columbia in 2004, is the smirking-yet-irresistible dynamo that drives this energetic 90-minute film, which manages to put characters in actual dialogue with each other while running red lights, riding the wrong way against moving traffic, and holding onto moving vehicles in what is basically a continuous chase scene from the opening to the credits.
And it’s clever: The action slows down to Matrix-time as Wilee approaches a busy, moving intersection and evaluates his various options. We see how each path plays out in slow-mo: getting hit by a bus, running over a lady with a baby carriage, and so on, before he chooses the correct one, the action returns to full speed, and he zips through the chaos and rolls into the next scene.
I’m reminded of how Tim Kreider of the Times once wrote, “Riding my bike in Manhattan is one of the only times when I am never anxious or afraid… It’s meditation at gunpoint.”
Likewise, director David Koepp does a good job of stripping away most of the self-consciousness and melodrama that plagues the typical Hollywood thriller. By simplifying the plot and focusing on keeping the action fresh, the film itself feels light, free, and unencumbered… kind of like riding a bike.
And that’s why the film is so satisfying. It’s focused entirely on the excitement of the ride, both literally and metaphorically. Aside from a few scenes explaining the back story of Wilee’s package, “Premium Rush” mostly excises the bullshit, keeping us rooted in the present, where all the fun happens.
In one telling scene, Wilee is explaining his beliefs in Buddhist philosophies to a love interest when she interjects. “But aren’t you afraid of dying? The way you ride?”
“You wanna know what scares me?” Wilee responds. “It’s what happened to my friends who just got out of law school. Compared to that, going down Broadway at fifty with no brakes is fine.” (Ed. note: Going down Broadway at fifty with no brakes is not fine.)
By all means, stay in school, my fellow Columbians. But go for a bike ride this fall. And see this movie. Just for fun. You won’t regret it.
Wilfred Chan, CC ’13, is a Columbia Outdoor Biking Orientation Leader and an avid road cyclist.
Still haven’t seen it, but: “characters…running red lights, riding the wrong way against moving traffic, and holding onto moving vehicles” — and these are the good guys? Too many cyclists in this city are terrifying, and if this movie is a hit, they may be about to get a lot more terrifying.
JGL attended the College, not GS. WikiCU says GS, but it’s wrong.
Wikipedia also says GS, but its references just say Columbia. Do you know different?
I do. I know from speaking with JGL personally while he was awaiting word from the admissions office; he got into the College early decision and did not apply anywhere else.
A couple of years ago I exchanged comments here or on Bwog with someone who insisted JGL went to General Studies and that he was well over 18 when he entered college. The second claim is provably false, but this person would not budge on the GS claim. I’ll bet he’s the one responsible for what WikiCU and Wikipedia say.
Interesante! But it’s not just WikiCU: Wikipedia, Yahoo, Elle magazine, and a whole bunch of other sites say he was a GS student. This could be a case of all these sites feeding off each others’ incorrect information, though, and it doesn’t really matter, so I’m changing to just “Columbia” for now. If you’ve got a source, please share!
You’re so desperate, it’s pathetic. You are well-known among my friends for having no job and having too much time on his hands.
Give us verifiable proof, or kindly STFU and GTFO, loser.
If he were over 21 when he entered, than it could only be GS. CC does not take freshman over 21.
He wasn’t.
That was supposed to be a reply to Anonymous’s comment at 3:40.
The Gordon-Levitt debate is the most debated topic on Spectator besides Manhattanville, though it easily wins in banality.
All the whining about Manhattanville seems pretty banal to me.
Rather than squabbling over which college own the right to brag about JGL. How about we just stick with the fact the JGL once attended Columbia, so that all of us can be proud of his accomplishments.
CU_Alum seems awfully invested in the topic of what college JGL attended at Columbia. I think I’ve seen him in every JGL debate. (By the way, if you’re going to give us proof, give us something that can actually be confirmed. Your conversation with him sounds absolutely splendid, but it doesn’t mean much here.) It’s pretty pathetic and desperate. Does it really matter that much? Who cares, it’ not that important!
He went to Columbia, and that’s good enough for me.
(Job market not treating you too well, huh? Try to make some better uses of your time. A Columbia alum should know better.)
On a different note, this review is great, Wilf, and I’m excited to see the movie! Love that quote about meditation at gunpoint—feel the same way biking through the city.