Rush

Rating: 9/10 (7 September 2014)

Ron Howard delivers an adrenaline-high, well-paced, expertly photographed ode to 70s Grand Prix racing, following the thrilling rivalry between calculating, brilliant, but cold and not-quite-ingratiating Austrian, Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and party-hearty, womanizing, handsome buck, James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth). The dueling egos, bravado, swapped barbs rippling with honesty, and incredible talent of both men makes for some high drama. Every cinematic trick (the ways Howard shoots the cars during races and reactions towards all the key dramatic moments, such as Lauda's tormented near-death experience thanks to burns from his car's fire consumption and agonizing hospital recovery and the rainy Japanese final formula race that Hunt narrowly survives to win the world championship) Howard uses to create a marvel of visual power. I think the racing is what many will come to this film for, and that will not disappoint. There's also a pretty damn good story here, too. It's a biopic about racing legends who drove each other to be as good as they could be. Howard knows how to recreate history on film and he carefully avoids the pratfalls that could belie a 70s biopic through cunning editing and avoiding taking Rush away from the track too much. Both leads match their real-life personas, not only looking like them but providing gravitas to these characters to give them dimension. I love fast cars and them racing in competition tugs at my testosterone. Rush would fit perfectly in a double feature with John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix (1966). The rehab and return to racing after the burning for Niki is absolutely harrowing. There's no doubt that Hemsworth is a stud and has the right charisma to portray such a larger-than-life person as James Hunt. Niki's courage and guts after such suffering is quite astonishing. I personally consider Howard's Rush superior filmmaking.