Rocky vs. Rocky. The audience wins.

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2013)

Most sports movies involve an underdog trying to defeat an established champion. We've seen a million variations of Rocky Balboa taking on Apollo Creed. But what if someone made a film about Rocky fighting another Rocky? That's what director Ron Howard has done with his excellent new racing movie, "Rush." The most compelling aspect of this tale of two long shots is that it's not the invention of a screenwriter. It actually happened. The drama centers on the rivalry between two drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, and the movie follows each man's unlikely rise to the top ranks of the Formula One circuit. The heart of the action takes place during the dramatic 1976-racing season during which the British Hunt and the Austrian Lauda vied for the world championship. They both overcame enormous adversity and risked their lives for the chance to win it all. Danger is a major theme hovering over the story, as the potential for death lurks around every turn of track. In this era of racing, an average of two drivers were killed each year.
Howard seems to be at his best when he's telling true stories ("Apollo 13," "A Beautiful Mind"). The Academy Award winner here re-teams with his "Frost/Nixon" collaborator Peter Morgan, a screenwriter who also specializes in films based on real events ("The Queen, " "The Deal"). Howard and Morgan resist the urge to embellish the story for dramatic effect, unlike some other filmmakers (I'm talking to you, Ben Affleck). The great script is paired with stunning visuals. Howard immerses us in the racing scenes. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle's cameras put us on the course, on the cars, behind the wheel and even inside the engines. The track sequences demand to be seen -- and just as importantly, heard – in the theater.
But the drivers themselves are the reason we want to go along for the ride. The two competitors could not be more different. Hunt, the charismatic, womanizing playboy, is played by Chris Hemsworth (Thor), while Daniel Bruhl plays Lauda, the quirky mechanical savant who has a way with machines, but not with people. Both actors create engaging portraits of the respective drivers, but Bruhl's performance is the one that will no doubt generate awards buzz.
Audiences, however will root for both men. Neither is the villain. The intense competition pushes each man to excel beyond what they would have otherwise achieved. They make each other better. It's Sosa vs. McGwire, only with spark plugs instead of steroids. The only shame is that one of the men had to lose.