Rush (2013)

"A wise man can learn more from his enemies than a fool from his friends."

In 1970, two talented young drivers spin out at a Formula Three race.  British playboy James Hunt (Hemsworth), is impulsive, while Austrian Niki Lauda (Bruhl) is calculated and focused on winning.  Their encounter on the track leads to a consuming rivalry.

Lauda begins racing in Formula One, where he is teamed with Clay Regazzoni (Favino).  Eventually they join the Ferrari racing team.  Lauda's success causes Hunt to start taking racing more seriously.  His team, Hesketh Racing, closes shop and he begins driving for McLaren.  Their rivalry comes to a head as they battle for the top spot in the 1976 season.


I should preface this by saying, my father is a huge racing fan.  He loves Nascar racing (which I mentioned when I wrote about Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby), Indy, Formula, etc.  He has even published a few ebooks about racing.  Despite my best intentions, I have absorbed a decent amount of information about racing and almost enjoy watching it now.  I ended up watching this film with my father, who remembers the rivalry between the drivers, and Niki Lauda's crash.

According to racing fans, this is the most accurate racing film.  They used vintage race cars or replicas and filmed at tracks to add to the authenticity.  The film also strove to stay historically accurate, making minor changes to add to the film narrative / suspense.

Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth are great in their role.  Both had the opportunity to meet Niki Lauda, and to research the men that they portrayed.  And both delivered strong performances of fascinating men.  Both Lauda and Hunt come across as entertaining and driven men, and the film doesn't shy away from showing the bad in each as well as the good.  The women don't get to do much.  Olivia Wilde gets prime billing, but doesn't appear in most of the film.  Alexandra Maria Lara is in more of the film, as Lauda's wife Marlene, and she is a more entertaining character.  All the other women in the film are treated as accessories.

A strong racing movie, that is based on actual events... and that does not suffer from the viewer knowing the outcome of the rivalry or the racing season.  Kudos to the cast and crew.

Rush (2013) 123 minutes
Rating: R for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing images and brief drug use
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt
Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda
Olivia Wilde as Suzy Hunt
Alexandra Maria Lara as Marlene Lauda
Pierfrancesco Favino as Clay Regazzoni