Rush (1991)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Lili Fini Zanuck

Writers (WGA):

Kim Wozencraft (book)
Peter Dexter (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 January 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

How far do they go before they've gone too far?

Plot:

Two small town Texas cops goes undercover to catch a major drug runner & end up getting caught up in the drug culture.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Love | Texas | Drug Addiction | Subjective Camera

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Jason Patric	...	Jim Raynor
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Kristen Cates
Sam Elliott	...	Dodd
Max Perlich	...	Walker
Gregg Allman	...	Gaines
Tony Frank	...	Nettle
William Sadler	...	Monroe
Special K. McCray	...	Willie Red
Dennis Letts	...	Senior District Attorney
Dennis Burkley	...	Motorcycle Guy
Glenn Wilson	...	Motorcycle Guy
Jimmy Ray Pickens	...	Man in Disco (as Jimmy Pickens)
Barbara Lasater	...	Yellow Rose Bartender
Toni Pilgreen	...	Driller's Waitress
Merrill Connally	...	Defense Attorney

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (heavily cut) (1992) (video release) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1992) (theatrical release) | Singapore:R21 | Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:R | Canada:14A | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Tom Cruise turned down the part later played by Jason Patrick as he didn't like the idea of scenes involving him taking drugs.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: End title credits misspell Lynyrd Skynyrd as "Lynyard Skynyrd".

Quotes:

Kristen: It's a fine line, Dodd.

Movie Connections:

Features "All in the Family" (1971)

Soundtrack:

Help Me Up

Excellent drama, much better than expected

I watched this only because Sam Elliott was in it, expecting little from Patric & Leigh, whom I looked upon as TV-quality lightweights. I was quite wrong -- both can act with great strength when given a quality script (a rare item in Hollywood). This is an intense, driven tale about undercover cops firmly entangled in the drug underworld, with the criminal activity and hypocrisy evenly spread between the cops and the dealers. The accuracy of this portrayal and the obvious futility of the "War on Drugs" explain why this film was hammered loudly by the police departments, newspapers and mainstream critics. To anyone who hasn't spent time around serious junkies this film will be a bit of a jolt, but it's the best and most honest portrayal of this world ever put on film.

This is definitely not your standard two-cop "buddy" films that spew forth so often from the Hollywood colon. The story is not predictable, nor is the ending....nor the ending after that ending. Scripts like this are jolting because they make you realize just how awful most of the other films actually are.

Some of the secondary actors turn in surprisingly nice jobs here. Sam Elliott turns in his usual good work, always enjoyable, but several others are well worth mention: Max Perlich, the pathetic little snitch, and Gregg Allman, who with almost no dialogue does a very convincing portrayal of a malevolent local crime kingpin.

This is one of those rare movies where the soundtrack is worth owning. Eric Clapton does a superb score, and his selection of music for the saloon and drug den scenes is masterful.

I've watched this three times, each a few years apart, and it gets better each time. The film doesn't have rely on fancy car chases, lengthy gunfights or comic relief. It's simply a fine film done by craftsmen -- a rare treat indeed.