Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays an energetic daredevil Manhattan bicycle messenger who takes a late day delivery envelop from mid town to Chinatown. “Premium Rush” is at its best unreeling a series of high speed bicycle shots—so good you actually wonder how they got them. Also effective, shots of Gordon-Levitt calculating various routes at high speed — some with disastrous consequences and others with clear paths. The end of the day delivery contains a lottery ticket which will enable a young woman to reunite with her young son. But crooked policeman Michael Shannon wants the ticket to pay off his numerous gambling debts. So the chase begins. Premium Rush quickly turns from an interesting idea to a run of the mill chase. Michael Shannon has created some of the most unusual performances in film–most notably as the mental patient in “Revolutionary Road”. I always look forward to Shannon’s work so it’s a great disappointment to see him play a run of the mill villain—anybody could have played this bad guy. Lower your expectations all around. Does it deliver what it promises? High speed bike chase. Is it entertaining? Starts promising but ends ordinary. Is it worth the price of admission? A disappointment.
