A Citizen of Bike Nation

‘Adrenalin Rush’, that’s my moniker for the new Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie, “Premium Rush”. In messenger parlance, a rush order is worth twice the price, a premium rush order is worth four times the going rate, or about thirty bucks in this case. I’ve watched plenty of bike races on TV, but even Tour de France coverage only holds my attention for a few minutes. That was the challenge of this movie how do you hold an audience attention about bicycling for 91 minutes. The movie’s plot is dirt simple, get from point A to point B. Just like a Tour de France stage, but it’s not the getting there, but how you got there that makes the difference in this movie.

Levitt plays bike messenger and law school dropout, Wilee, as in wily coyote. In between points A and B is Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), a NYPD police detective that the LA Times aptly coins as ’50 shades of crazy’. Wilee is a true-blood fixie. A fixie is a single speed bike that requires the rider to constantly pedal. Wilee eschews brakes; they’ve been nothing but trouble for him, “when you’re going 50 down Broadway, your bike is so stable.”

As I said it is not about the getting there, but about the how that this movie pirouettes about. Director David Koepp and co-writer John Kamps create the journey that makes this story worth telling. Don’t get me wrong, there is no message with this movie. It is like a rollercoaster ride, fun in the moment. Like I said, It’s not the getting there, but how you got there. So get there to the theater, anyway you can.

PS – Yes, the photo with this post is a repeat, but isn’t she so lovely that seeing her photo again is twice the charm?