Along with being a film guy, the other passion in my life is sports and the credit for that has to go to my family. My dad played baseball throughout his youth and we have been Detroit Tigers season-ticket holders for years. My mother's family is a hockey family and my uncles and aunts have won numerous high school championships. My younger brother is a baseball and hockey player and I enjoy cheering him on during his games. One sport my mother and father were into before I was born was Indy Car Racing. Unfortunately that sport has declined in popularity and these cars no longer race at our local track, the Michigan International Speedway so I never had a chance to get into it.
Ok, so I went to see the movie Rush which is a movie from Ron Howard about Formula 1 Racing. Being a film person, I knew every actor in this movie but I knew absolutely nothing about the actual people depicted in this movie nor Formula 1 Racing which is a European and not an American thing. Frankly, this is a movie I should have not liked nor cared about at all.
Rush is based off a true story and set in 1970's, about Formula 1 race car drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). The movie tells the story of the fierce rivalry of these drivers who were opposites in just about every way and how they interacted with each other and eventually became friends.
As he did in " The Cabin in the Woods", Hemsworth plays playboy, fun-lover James Hunt. Hunt is a partier who drinks heavily, is frequently hungover, takes drugs and has a new woman every night. He is still a very good driver who is very fun to watch and in the last act shows a high level of determination chasing the championship. Olivia Wilde plays Hunt's wife Suzy Miller though the movie does not allow any development of their relationship as they are married shortly after she is introduced in the movie.
Where as Hunt is just thrown to you as a character and given no back story, Niki Lauda is depicted as a very in-depth character with a detailed history. Lauda is a character who's family has given up on him after choosing to be a race car driver instead of going into the family banking business. He is the exact opposite of James Hunt. Lauda is mean, anti-social, disagreeable and a "my way or the highway" type of guy. After throwing in the towel at a party, on his way home Lauda meets his wife Marlene Knaus (Alexandrea Maria Lara). The love and chemistry between these two is strong and the exact opposite of the empty marriage of Miller and Hunt. Lauda's character also endures a terrible fiery crash with extreme burns to his face and the movie does an excellent job with his makeup and the story of his very painful rehabilitation and return to the track.
For someone who had no knowledge of Formula 1 Racing, this movie was a perfect introduction and a way to get into it. The movie also depicts the 1970's realistically with the men's long hair, fashion and drug use. Formula 1 Racing is shown through the various racetracks and the film show it's cultural impact and popularity in Europe. Rush includes strong cinematography showing high level racing and anybody would be entertained by this movie whether you are into automobile racing or not.
When it's all said and done, Rush is a moving and powerful movie by director Ron Howard to add his already great resume. Howard makes us care about a story that most Americans don't even know about. Rush is likely one of the top films of the year. No caution flags or pit stops are going to stop it.
4.5/5
