Premium Rush -OR- An Open Love Letter to Michael Shannon

I apologize in advance if I get slightly off topic but I'd like to take a moment to talk about my favorite actor - Michael Shannon, a man who steals the hell out of every scene he's in, who comes onto the screen like a feral animal, a force of nature and manages to rachet up the intensity level; and he does all of this while appearing to do nothing at all. That's called skills.

I often wonder how other actors feel about working with Michael Shannon. I'm sure they are clamoring to work with him because he's so good and because they always say working with great actors makes you a better actor yourself. But there also must be some part of them that is hesitant. Even if you are at your absolute best, Michael Shannon is going to be better than you.

A few days ago, I watched a movie called Machine Gun Preacher (review in a nutshell: solid movie but way, way, way too long). It's a true story and stars Gerard Butler as an ex-con who completely turns his life around and focuses his attentions on helping orphaned children in the Sudan. I'm not Gerard Butler's biggest fan but this was a career best performance for him. However, the movie also featured Michael Shannon in the supporting role of Butler's childhood friend turned junkie biker turned saved Christian. In just a few key scenes, Shannon manages to steal the entire movie. He's done this before, and from much bigger named and more talented co-stars (see also: Revolutionary Road which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, but it was Shannon who you were thinking and talking about for months). I don't know what it is about him because I never studied film and I don't know all the technical aspects of acting. I'm just a girl who loves movies more than anything else in the world and who likes to write about them here even if no one reads it. So, I can't really say what it is about Michael Shannon. All I know is that he's my absolute favorite actor and there is just something about his performances, intensity, passion that jumps off the screen and grabs a hold of me and doesn't let me go for the duration.

That being said, he's the absolute best thing about Premium Rush, obviously. Premium Rush is a decent movie, but with the addition of Shannon (and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt), it becomes a better movie, almost a good movie. Shannon co-stars as a dirty cop with a bad gambling habit who spends the entire movie chasing after Gordon-Levitt's Wile character who is transporting an envelope with a ticket worth a lot of money from the Upper East Side to Chinatown. While this movie could primarily be seen as style over substance, the performances are what bring it to a whole other level. Shannon is incindiary as the dirty, lying cop. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also solid too. He's gone from child TV star to indie movie darling and now you can tell he is having the time of his life as a fledgling movie star. His enthusiasm and charisma just jumps off the screen. Premium Rush can be seen as just a bike chase movie but it's also a pretty good thriller and has a solid story as well. But it's Gordon-Levitt, and, especially, Shannon who make it a better movie.

Grade: B-