The HUNT for the next great racing flick is over. Allow me to LAUDA merits of this great film of racing history.

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2013)

There are no spoilers in this review of Rush, for the 1976 Grand Prix championship was settled long ago. That it was done in the most unexpected fashion under torrential conditions by the shadow of majestic Mount Fuji, in the legendary racing circuit of the same name, has perhaps made it all the more a hallowed story of Formula One history. Books have been written and documentary films have been made recounting the lives of James Hunt and Niki Lauda many times over. Even the tapes of the live broadcast still exist.
A tricky thing, making a story interesting despite everyone already knowing how it all went down.
Yet, Ron Howard does just that. As expected, there are embellishments, so let's get the biggest one out of the way: Hunt and Lauda never met in that particular F3 race. It is something that has been pointed out when production photos were leaked revealing just that fictional encounter. Certainly not the first nor the worst type of creative license.
Surprisingly, aspects of Hunt's personality are actually toned down. By all accounts, his sexual appetite was more of a compulsion, and his hard drug use and alcohol consumption more than recreational. He was renowned for enjoying all these to excess, even before having to nurse the pain of a broken marriage. His temper was described by Sir Sterling Moss as "volatile", with Hunt punching many a poor marshal who eagerly rushed to help Hunt after a shunt – an oft repeated rhyme for this was a regular occurrence throughout his career. Instead, Ron Howard relies yet again on re-imagining another encounter - his version of Hunt's aggression slightly more noble.
Despite these, Hemsworth's Hunt is still pretty much like the real Hunt, from the pre-race nerves, the vomiting, right down to the witty, politically incorrect, off the cuff remarks. In all, the James Hunt of Rush is a highly sympathetic character, one with real fears and tangible feelings underneath his playboy persona.
Daniel Bruhl's Lauda on the other hand, is on the verge of one-dimensionality. Throughout the film, the Lauda of Rush is too uptight, too much of a straight edge. While the real Niki Lauda's methodical and no-nonsense approach is renowned, Lauda is a respected figure then and now. His then wife, Marlene Lauda, said of the ever escalating competitiveness of F1 late in Niki's career, "All the drivers are so serious, it's no longer fun. Niki is the only one who likes to smile and be friendly with the other drivers" – a far cry from his on-screen depiction of an insufferable pedant.
Only the real Lauda's act of self-preservation truly hints of the film version's human side. A decision borne out of fear, Tyrrell driver Jody Scheckter, called the real Lauda's actions as true bravery. Lauda got out of his Ferrari, defied Il Commendatore, and did not make any excuses. He just could not finish that race and he owned up to that decision.
My biggest complaint is that for a motor racing film, Rush shows very little racing, with any long sequence only occurring about an hour into the film. Instead, races are abbreviated as quick flashes of blurred landscape and overused shaky in-car/on-car camera footage – likely added post-production. Devoid of wide angle shots and any form of continuity editing, it's hard not to call attention into the shakiness as a crutch to depict frantic excitement. With the availability of such stable cranes and booms mounted on various high speed chase cars (such as the ones seen during production!), I was hoping for Rush to break from the "action equals shaky camera" trend of Hollywood filmmaking. Show me real driving! Alas, we are treated to quick, jarring cuts. Inevitably, I could never quite tell where the hell they are in the iconic racetracks of F1's yesteryear, were it not for the captions. Save for Monaco (which only appears in Hunt's visualization) and Nurburgring, all the other racing sequences could have been shot in Brands Hatch for all I know.
Nonetheless, even though shot in digital format (Arri Alexa and Canon C300) I must commend the colour grading. The temptation must have been there to make it look orange and blue, or perhaps excessively filtered, like oh so many disgusting instagram photos. Instead, there is a subtle warmth to the whole film, as though it were shot in 1970's film stock.
Yet, I really only point out these minor annoyances of Rush's action driving sequences because I am such a big fan of Frankenheimer's Grand Prix (1966) – still to this day my benchmark for any racing flick. There have been many car related movies, few have been about racing, and all have failed because they pandered to the lowest common denominator of automobile fans. Because despite these embellishments, glossed over details, and current action filmmaking clichés, Rush is a masterful work of storytelling. Foregoing long drawn out and realistic driving sequences, Rush's plot moves very fast indeed, all whilst largely staying true to the actual historical turn of events – Frankenheimer's Grand Prix was a notoriously slow burn. Nonetheless, perhaps in homage to Grand Prix, Rush also utilizes track announcers, reporters, and print headlines to advance the exposition (As an aside, I am unsure whether Simon Taylor plays Murray Walker or is he playing himself?).
If anything, the mere fact that there is a slick new racing movie out will leave motorsport fans and racers alike thankful. So used are these fans and racers to have their love, their passion, and their pastime being mangled and misrepresented, that anything close enough to the gritty realism of the sport is a very welcome and refreshing change indeed. For those of you who feared this will be Stallone's Driven, redux, then you need not worry. Go watch it! You won't be disappointed.