Rush

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2013)

Sure, cutting edge is sexy and gets a lot of attention from both critics and casual movie goers—it's easy to recognize and even easier to talk about. However, there is a place for supreme competence and Ron Howard is one of the most supremely competent. But just because he isn't pushing the limits of style or technique—which can sometimes be little too calculated and self conscious—doesn't mean he's not versatile. Consider the impressive Frost/Nixon and his latest effort, Rush—about as far from each other in style and scale as you can get—even if they do share a common theme. Both films are, essentially, about two men, rivals, who need each other in order to reach their full potential and self awareness.
Rush is the story of one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time— the battle for title of the best Formula 1 racer in the world. The sometimes friendly, and often bitter, rivalry between Britain James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian Nikki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), captivated the racing world through much of the seventies, reaching a dramatic peak in 1976. Note here that in Europe, where Formula1 racers are accorded rock star status (something Hunt's overactive libido takes full advantage of), it captivated far more than the racing world—it captivated an entire continent. One of the best scenes in the film shows, in amusing fashion, that for Italian men the only things in the world more exciting than a beautiful woman are a fast car and Formula 1 driver.
Jame Hunt, a brash and sometimes offensively arrogant playboy, navigates his McLaren "bomb on wheels" by instinct and guts; Nikki Lauda, a calculating and sometimes offensively arrogant technician, drives his Ferrari by the book, assessing risk and reward like a bond trading statistician. When the car isn't what he wants it to be, Hunt berates his mechanics to make it better; Lauda tells his mechanics precisely what is wrong and how to fix it. Hunt is the charming bon vivant, comfortable in any social situation because he makes it his own; Lauda is an acerbic social misfit with no idea that he repels almost everyone he meets.
Daniel Bruhl's portrayal of Lauda transcends the genre, elevating the film to more than just an action-filled biopic. He plays Lauda as humorless, but with a subtle, squashed wryness behind the eyes. It's a nomination quality performance. Chris Hemsworth proves himself to be better than the pretty boy roles he's had until now—much better. This guy can really act. One problem throughout the film is that Hemsworth is just too damn good-looking, distractingly so. The casting smacks of manipulation. It feels as if the film uses every angle to make us like Hunt as much as we dislike Lauda , to the extent of making Hunt overly attractive and Lauda, well, not so much, in order to set us up for self- chagrin when, later in the film, Lauda faces a personal disaster that can invoke only the most profound sympathy. But in retrospect it makes sense—actual footage of the two runs behind the final credits and it turns out that Hunt was strikingly handsome and Lauda.....
Howard brings together his standing team of Anthony Dod Mantle, cinematographer, and Daniel P. Hanley as editor—and to good effect—the three work together seamlessly. The colors are bright and saturated (A red Ferrari is a damn red Ferrari) with with almost garish seventies style banners flashing on the screen announcing the location of every race—and there are a lot of races. The film does not want for road action. One of the reasons for going to a race movie is to see racing. Rush delivers, and delivers well. To the credit of Hanley, the scenes on the track are exciting and tense in just the right proportion and show in visceral detail how these machines work and just what they and their drivers are capable of—truly awesome, and not in the pop sense of the word.
It's hard to come up with a criticism of Rush. After all, it is a racing movie and a story of a spirited rivalry between two of the best in their field—each a time-worn genre and somewhat limiting in their strict forms —so it gets a little room for having a few clichés, which it does. But, having said that, it is one of the absolute best of both types. It's fun, it's exciting, there are no slow spots and it's got some really cool cars in it. (Maybe the Italians have their priorities in line, after all.) It's definitely worth seeing, and worth seeing on the big screen—the racing scenes deserve far more than a small screen can deliver.