it's no secret in the motion picture industry that the relationship between a script and the actors involved often makes or breaks a movie at the box office . 
a poorly-written script can be bested by a superb acting corps , and a well-written piece can be mangled by a group of amateurs . 
in directing his latest action-comedy , director brett ratner ( money talks ) takes a relatively mediocre piece of standup comedy and turns it into a funny as all get-out buddy cop movie . 
in addition , rush hour serves as a first-class example of directing a movie with conservative attitude - a feature that is sure to draw in crowds of all types . 
the two lead names share equal screen time here , mostly because they spend it together . 
jackie chan , in his first completely american production , makes an impressive debut by mixing dialogue with martial arts . 
the other martial arts flick from a few weeks ago , knock off , stands no chance against the content of this one . 
chan manages to make every fight scene exude grace and poise , and there's no doubt that a large percentage of video sales for this movie will come from viewers who couldn't believe their eyes the first time . 
chris tucker , on the opposite side , relates a hilarious comedic approach which smoothes out the rough edges to chan's performance . 
he works perfectly with the script , and it's quite likely he lent scribe jim kouf a hand with some of his lines . 
almost essential to the action genre , the plot is nonexistent . 
we're quickly introduced to detective james carter ( tucker ) is a maverick officer for the lapd . 
cut forward to another scene where the daughter ( julia hsu ) of the american chinese consul ( tzi ma ) is kidnapped by a gang of swarthy characters . 
the fbi is quick to the rescue , but the consul insists that one of his men , detective inspector lee ( chan ) , be brought on the case to help . 
the fbi resists , but then requests that lapd send a man over to babysit the chinese detective . 
it's here that carter and lee hook up , and the two unwittingly solve the case while the fbi rushes in to back them up . 
rattner does a fine job of going the extra mile to get his movie to move a step up , but it doesn't quite reach the top tier of action-comedies like last year's grosse pointe blank . 
there are moments where the plot strays too far off the straight line it sticks almost exclusively to , and if not for the comedic interactions between tucker and chan , this might be a major drawback . 
also , some supporting characters are almost entirely along for the ride , and others are there simply to look menacing . 
however , none gives a standoffish performance and they mostly mesh into the background . 
almost every member of the cast displays some reservation at one point or another - whether it's tucker's toned-down routine or chan's tight rein on his action sequences - and that contributes greatly to this being a watchable movie for all types . 
a recommendable visit to the theater , indeed .