The best reason to see “Rush” is to watch these superb young actors wallow in juicy lowlife roles. (Is there an actor alive who can resist the temptation of a withdrawal scene?) Patric shows that his riveting performance in “After Dark, My Sweet” was no fluke: he’s got magnetism and fierce concentration. Leigh gives this opaque, naive Texas girl a wonderful undercurrent of obsessiveness: she’s turned on by fear. And as a goofy small-time dealer whom our heroes blackmail into betraying his pals, Max Perlich practically steals the show.
Lili Fini Zanuck’s directorial debut is impressively gritty and intense, and she avoids finger-wagging, but for all her good efforts, the movie suffers from deja vu: we’ve been down this road before. Even “Rush’s” moral ambiguities seem too familiar. A few implausibilities aside, it’s a well-made melodrama. But after the startlingly fresh “Drugstore Cowboy” (1989), a real inside job, this junkie movie seems like old news.
