Rush

Ron Howard is an unbelievable director. I put a few of his movies out of mind, but Frost/Nixon is an all time favorite. Cinderella Man and A Beautiful Mind are absolutely amazing. Need I mention Apollo 13? He knows how to tell a story in a unique way. We know how the story ends, but he keeps us intrigued from beginning to end.

Rush is no exception. It tells the story of the rivalry between Formula 1 racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, the latter falling victim to a terrible car crash leaving him brutally scarred. We see an amazing chemistry between our two leads, an awkward sense of self appreciation from Hemsworth and a condescending sense of supremacy from Bruhl, with a fascinating direction style leading us seamlessly through their lives

Daniel Bruhl as Lauda a fascinating character, one driven by passion perhaps not for driving, but for an identity change to distinguish himself from his family. He particularly shines, playing a character type I haven't experienced before - one genuinely passionate, but in the most selfish of ways. On the other end, we have a man driven by a thirst to prove himself for the same reasons, but more for the people around him than himself. The film gives a good case to see this as the main difference between them, and succeeds at letting us love and hate both of them for all the correct reasons. We also see the many women who enter in and out of Hunt's life, all of whom are essentially throw away characters. But we also can see why they are so pointless - they have very little effect on Hunt's life. After a heartbreaking divorce for him, we see perhaps a slight humbling, but certainly not a turn around. That fascinated me, and helped the movie feel real.

Formula 1 is anything but boring. It's actually a very exciting race to watch, filled with turns I would never feel safe making at their speeds, and the potential for serious injury is exponentially higher with the body exposed. Even though I don't think it needed to be handled in such an action-movie way to get across the excitement, I do appreciate and understand why it's there. It made it recognizably exciting for the uninitiated Formula 1 fan, or the occasional viewer like myself. I can't see anyone, even someone fervently against Formula 1, disliking the action scenes in this.

The script is slow and easy paced. Perhaps not exactly the most unpredictable, but we knew what we were getting into when we saw the trailer, and it does manage to keep people like me, unfamiliar with the story, guessing a fair amount about the motivations of our lead characters. It's also really nice to hear Lauda defend the film as "very accurate", thus allowing us to understand that his portrayal was surprisingly close to his own personality, while defending the honor of his friend/rival, notorious for drug usage minutes before racing. That's certainly something to be admired, both from the Lauda and from Howard's brilliant vision of a film.

This movie is truly a masterpiece of a sports movie, one that I think will really be enjoyed by near everyone. It manages to keep you interested in not just the story, but character interactions as well. The cinematography keeps the film exciting for anyone, even those uninitiated to Formula 1, and has graspable, real characters played by brilliant actors who should absolutely be seeing some Oscar buzz. It's not perfect, but it's a pretty damn great film.

Rank - 4.5/5