Not just a basic racing movie

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 2019)

It is more than just a basic racing movie - I'll give that much credit.
People praise this movie for being a character study. I don't know about that... It got the main characters right - but only individually. Let's examine:
Niki Lauda is a fascinating figure: methodical and no-nonsense. Brühl spent a lot of time with him and nailed his younger character. According to an interview the actor immediately recognized the importance of learning the Austro-English accent to get his mannerisms right (a fact even Ron Howard did not get). With the incredible make-up he really turned into Lauda.
In contrast to Lauda, Hunt really was a pop idol of his time who is said to have slept with 5000 women in his lifetime, which is the impression you get from the very start of the movie. I'm not sure if Hemsworth did really portray him well, though. Maybe a bit too overacted for a real person. Brühl, for me, clearly steals the show.
The way the movie shifts its focus between Hunt and Lauda feels like an "either/or" deal. There are actually surprisingly few scenes where they interact directly. This is where the movie fails in my opinion.
According to an interview with Lauda, the movie got 80% right. So what did it get wrong? Sure, on the track they were rivals but they had a lot of respect for each other despite their different attitudes. However, the movie makes it look like they hated each other (up until the last scene where they exchange cheesy Hollywood dialogue). Obviously you have to call your opponent an a**hole all the time, otherwise how should mainstream audiences know they are rivals?! The scenes with both together fell flat for me - what a missed opportunity to elevate the movie!
The music is by Hans Zimmer - effective but sometimes I thought to myself this sounds more like a war movie soundtrack. The editing adds to the fast race feel, but sometimes they looks slightly off. Obviously no real footage of Formular 1 looks like that and I wish they had toned it down a bit.
There are obviously a lot of real-life highlights in the movie: Lauda's famous crash of 1976 and his manic "recovery" are on the very top. However, the high point of that season - the Grand Prix of Japan - felt very rushed without realla showing the motivations of Lauda's quit.
Well, looks like I will always have mixed feelings about Ron Howard's Hollywood-washed movies.