Not Just Cars Driving in Circles

Rating: 9/10 (25 September 2013)

Just look at that face on the poster. Who cares if the film looks like it's about men in fast cars going around in a circle? This is the perfect date movie. You have both action and meaningful dialog. RUSH tells the true story of the inexplicably long rivalry between two race car drivers in the 1970s. We follow Mr Hunk (James Hunt), and Mr Rat Face (Niki Lauda) as they fight to maintain their first place Grand Prix title from each other.
Thank the heavens this isn't a 3D movie, the action was intense enough. RUSH goes deep into the weighty topics of life. You will find your brain grappling with the meaning of friendship, ambition, even marriage. We watch Hunt and Lauda mature and adjust their priorities in life. Well at least Lauda does. Chris Hemsworth, playing James Hunt looks every bit the Bad Boy with boundless energy for women, booze, drugs, and looking death in the eye with every race. Daniel Brühl plays the contradictory Niki Lauda, equally motivated to win, but by his own strict set of rules calculated to avoid death.
As the story unfolds we meet girlfriends, managers, drivers, investors and assorted 1970s stereotypes that serve to flesh out the incalculable motivations and pressures involved in keeping the show on the road. Everyone has something to lose. Niki learns that happiness is the enemy. "It means you have something to lose." James seems to be suppressing his thoughts and feeling throughout the film with his physicality.
Trust me, RUSH is, well, a rush. (impulse control issues)