With "Rush Hour 3" a theatrical hit, bringing with it the time-worn motif of criminal-busting partners who don't always get along but put aside their differences to save each other when things get rough, here's an unofficial take on how Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker rank in the genre:
5. Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell ("Tango & Cash," 1989). Sly and Snake are rival L.A. supercops who are framed for a crime by a gangster, tossed in jail and forced to bond and defend themselves against inmates they helped convict, and eventually prove their innocence. Both stars ooze tough-guy magnetism, but for some reason the chemistry isn't quite there. Guess that's why there were no sequels.
4. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker ("Rush Hour," 1998; "Rush Hour 2," 2001; "Rush Hour 3," 2007). Chan is a by-the-book detective from Hong Kong who comes to the United States to solve a kidnapping and reluctantly partners with Tucker, a streetwise, fast-talking LAPD officer. While bickering over food, music and investigation techniques in the course of two movies — and now a third — they become tight. The conversations between the two, with Chan's slow, broken English fencing with Tucker's motormouth, are nearly always fascinating.
3. Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte ("48 Hrs.," 1982, "Another 48 Hrs.," 1990). In the films that set the template for many, many ebony-and-ivory cop flicks to come, Murphy plays a sarcastic criminal who gets out of jail for two days to help a no-nonsense detective played by Nolte in his hunt for a murderer. Eight years later, the duo teams up again.
2. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence ("Bad Boys," 1995; "Bad Boys II," 2003). Breaking buddy-cop genre rules, these Miami cops are both wry jokesters who are also good friends. Even though the explosion-filled set pieces are ridiculous, Smith and Lawrence are arguably the most realistic buddy-cop pairing in film.
1. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover ("Lethal Weapon," 1987; "Lethal Weapon 2," 1989; "Lethal Weapon 3," 1992; "Lethal Weapon 4," 1998). Gibson and Glover perfected the buddy-cop dynamic: Gibson is Riggs, a loose cannon with a death wish, while Glover plays Murtaugh, a fatherly sort who's always complaining about how he's too old for the high jinks they find themselves in. Sidekick Joe Pesci entered the fray in the second film and added a humorous third-wheel dynamic.