Rush hour

Shortly after arriving in the United States to take up a diplomatic post in Los Angeles, Chinese consul Han's (Tzi Ma) daughter, Soo Yung, is kidnapped. Unwilling to trust the FBI, Han calls in his best friend, Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) of the Hong Kong police.

The FBI doesn't want an outsider like Lee interfering, so they palm him off on LAPD detective James Carter (Chris Tucker), a fast-talking and comically arrogant police officer. The two men do not remotely get along, but when they discover that they are being used, they set out to try to solve the case themselves.

They find out the person behind it is Juntao, a mysterious Chinese crime lord. Following a lead to Chinatown, Carter coincidentally sees the man in charge of Soo Yung's kidnappers. In reality, "Juntao" is not Chinese, but is in fact British Commander Griffin (Tom Wilkinson), a former Hong Kong police official and Han's supposed friend. After a fight in Chinatown, Griffin's henchman, Sang, (Ken Leung) angrily tells the consul that the ransom has been increased, and begins threatening Soo Yung's life. Disgraced, Lee and Carter are ordered off the investigation and Lee is sent back to China. But before he gets on the plane, Carter convinces Lee to help him try and save Soo Yung. Lee is surprised, as before then Carter has seemed to care about no one but himself.

The final confrontation comes at a Chinese art exhibition at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which Han is emceeing, while the ransom is being delivered. While Carter evacuates the crowd, Lee recognizes Griffin, who reveals his true identity and threatens to explode a bomb attached to Soo Yung if the delivery is interrupted. In a battle between Griffin's thugs on one side, and the F.B.I. and Lee and Carter on the other, Carter kills Sang, LAPD bomb expert Johnson (Elizabeth Pena) defuses the bomb and rescues Soo Yung, and Lee kills Griffin by causing him to fall from the center's roof.

Han and Soo Yung are reunited. Carter and Lee take a vacation together to Hong Kong - but Carter is shocked to hear that the flight will take 15 hours, and demands another seat as soon as Lee starts singing "War").