Chris Tucker can’t get a job because he asks too much and brings too little. That being said, I did like him in Fifth Element and the better part of Rush Hour. (Was he in anything else?) Oh he has that Ratner film, Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra coming out soon.
So that aside he likely owes a better part of his soul that Jackie Chan sees him as an ally and the two of them put their heads together and agreed to do another film together.
But not Rush Hour 4.
“It’s like two days ago when Chris Tucker called me,” the martial arts legend said Saturday. “We sat down and decided we want to do another movie. Not a ‘Rush Hour’ — something new.”That would seem to be good news for fans who’ve been so attracted to the Chan/ Tucker action-comedy series that they’ve powered it to nearly $1 billion worldwide, but who also largely considered last summer’s “Rush Hour 3” to be an indication that the franchise has run out of gas.
“I said yes, and after I shook [Tucker’s] hand, I said: ‘Look, we need a middleman. I don’t want to shake hands, then I go back to Hong Kong and you stay here, I get busy and you get busy,’ ” he recalled. “You have to have somebody in the middle to follow up, otherwise it will never happen.
Jackie knows this business, and despite his shortcomings (he will never get an Oscar, and still can’t speak english well) he still entertains with the best of the action stars. And Chan recognizes that this chat or handshake wont mean anything without some people behind it.
I have a lot of issues with Chris Tucker as a star and an actor (he really is only one personality onscreen) but this can open up a lot of opportunities for Tucker. No really.
Since we know that every star in Hollywood reads our site and keeps our opinions in such high regard, let me offer my career advice to Tucker:
Chris, don’t let your fat pockets ruin this for you. You are not a director, or a writer. You are an actor. So act. And expect to get paid to act. If you ask for too much money for this, NO ONE will make another Tucker/Chan film. Yes, the movies made a metric pantload of cash, but the studios are greedier than you are.Speaking of acting, if there is a shred of talent in there, this is your LAST chance to show it. After three Rush Hour films and Fifth Element, you are essentially the same guy. Sure, Ruby Rhod was a coward and Carter was a brash cop, but they were both still YOU. Jackie is always Jackie, and we expect that. We accept that. But if you do another film together it wont matter that it isnt Rush Hour if you pull the same schtick.
Lastly, check the ego at the door. I won’t lie Chris, I like your roles. I loved you playing off Jackie and Bruce Willis. Great chemistry there. You bring something amusing to the screen and that is a quality that will sell movies to people who like your style. But you will not get new fans and you will bore the hell out of the rest of us if you keep up this super ego. No one likes the demigod attitude.
So with my vast influence, I am sure that this will bring about a new era of Chris Tucker where even John can like the guy.Of course all this is based on the speculation that this little dream of theirs might just be talk.
