Fresh, spectacular, respectful

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2013)

Thoroughly enjoyed "Rush." Ron Howard creates an energetic, compelling, and highly detailed world, and populates it with equally vivid real-life characters. I'm a film and motorsports geek, but rarely do the film and motorsports worlds intersect to produce anything good. "Rush" is, happily, the exception to the rule.
The film avoids all the tired old "racing movie" pitfalls: the nearly-irresistible force dragging producers and directors toward the action movie genre, the romanticized homage to historical figures living and dead, the dumbed-down "good guy vs. bad guy" duel, ad nauseam. Instead, Howard knocks us back into our seats with an intimate, visceral impression of the the speed and danger of 1970s Formula One racing. He captures the essence of motorsport, that melding of the human will with the brute force of the machine, like no one else ever has. And he also shows the unavoidable, painful truth. That the technology of speed has always advanced more rapidly than the science of safety.
So Howard creates a nearly perfect movie universe for Rush. But that's only the director's 3rd most important task. The two most important tasks are hiring the right actors, then getting the best possible performances out of those actors. I think Hemsworth and Bruhl are excellent choices. The former has the charisma needed to portray Hunt, the latter the intensity needed to play Lauda. And Bruhl absolutely nails Lauda's accent.
But if there is a weakness to Howard's work in Rush, it is that he sometimes doesn't get maximum performances out of his actors. Occasionally, simply hiring the right actors is enough and much of the production just falls into place. Other times, the director needs to work his or her voodoo to get actors to cry, laugh, and achieve peak performance. Several of the film's scenes fell flat emotionally (especially the ski trip argument scene and subsequent restaurant scene.) They could have been big acting moments, they could have added more depth to the film, but it just didn't happen. It felt like Howard either told the actors to pull it back a little to keep the film "lighter" or simply didn't feel like expending a lot of energy shooting alternate takes.
I doubt the lack of a big acting moment will have even the slightest effect on the film's box office, but it's just about the only thing preventing me from giving the film 10 stars. I enjoyed the film on many levels, and I think there's something for everyone to love about the film. And yes, I expect Rush to get a best picture Oscar nomination.