“Rush” (2013 film)

Rush

Grade: B+

An inspiring and entertaining sports biopic about the Formula One rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, Ron Howard’s Rush takes a while to get started but is easygoing, uplifting fun to the final finish line. A few more notes on Rush:

Directing:

Howard keeps Rush moving at a brisk pace, with race scenes that aptly recreate the do-or-die tension of Formula One, featuring CGI that never gets in the way. Howard also does a fine job making the events of the regular season easy to follow. It’s the rare sports film that actually gets us to care about the championship.

Acting:

Chris Hemsworth is a perfect James Hunt: a godlike, charismatic, alcoholic, womanizing superstar. And Daniel Brühl is a perfect Niki Lauda: an eccentric, idiosyncratic, intelligent, racing pragmatist. Because of their winning performances, we’re equally rooting for both.

Writing:

Rush’s weak point is its beginning, which shows us the start of Hunt and Lauda’s rivalry but takes too much time trying to establish their personal lives. Yes, these early scenes are necessary for character development, but there are quite a few tertiary characters (e.g., a pair of girlfriends) from this portion of the film that disappear without mention. Peter Morgan’s screenplay is faithful and obviously favors the two main stars, but everyone else in the picture is largely left by the wayside. Luckily, the two main stars are interesting enough to make the film worthwhile. But I can’t help feeling like Rush is just Talladega Nights without the humor.

Music:

Hans Zimmer’s score takes influence from glam rock and utilizes electric guitar instrumentation to propel the story forward. It’s not one of his most mesmerizing soundtracks, but it’s serviceable.

Ending (SPOILERS):

Rush is a crowd-pleasing film: Lauda wins his health by choosing safety first at the climactic, rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix, while Hunt wins the championship by ambitiously choosing safety last. The film has excellent closure, as the climactic race is followed by a heartwarming scene in which Lauda and Hunt finally see each other as equals, which is then followed by the requisite title cards describing how the rest of the characters’ lives went. Along with Ford v. Ferrari, it belongs in the Dad Movies Hall of Fame.

“The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. It’s a wonderful way to live. It’s the only way to drive.” – James Hunt

Why Rush gets a B+:

As auto-racing movies go, I prefer Ford v. Ferrari and Talladega Nights, but I can’t deny that Rush is very entertaining. It’s a fun movie, nothing more, nothing less.

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