Review of Rush (2013) by Adam P — 07 Jun 2014

After watching the trailer, I thought the film would get a best picture nomination from the Academy Awards; surprisingly this was not the case. Watching the film now, I express my bewilderment at this film not being nominated. It's a great film. Solidly filmed, and well scripted, this was a very well crafted biographical sports drama and I'll tell you why. My review of 'Rush'.

'Rush' tells the tale of James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), as two highly skilled race car drivers, who form a rivalry that lasted from 1970 to 1976. James, a stubborn, dimwitted, and slacker, and Niki, a smart, calculated jerk, face off against each other to win the Championship for the Grand Prix.

'Rush' is a very well handled racing film. What surprises me is that it is more character driven then actual race car sequences, something you hardly see in these type of films. This not only helps the tension level when the racing scenes do occur, but it helps make the characters more human than one dimensional figures just following a script.

The film was well written by 'Peter Morgan' who seemingly puts the characters first, and the stunts, and car's second. He balances both Lauda and Hunt's separate story arcs perfectly, keeping each of them in tune with the other, not giving one more screen time then another. Morgan develops his character's well, and the dialogue is un-cringworthy. He even makes characters likable even when they seem to not be, that helps to make the film more enjoyable.

The film is well handled by director 'Ron Howard' who has provided us with the likes of 'The DaVinci Code' and 'Apollo 13'. He handles the material he is given wisely. His camera work is impressive to say the least, especially during the racing sequences. We are brought into the action being put right in front of the racer, or in the vehicle... And the crash sequences... wow. Not to mention the climax of the film was eye widening beautifully shot, with the rain and all.

The film is lead by two impressive performances from 'Chris Hemsworth' and 'Daniel Bruhl'. Hemsworth gives his all, and ends up successfully giving probably his best performance to date as Hunt. He seems to have tons of fun as the character and it plays well on screen. Even better is the relative unfamiliar face Bruhl, whose name is familiar outside the U.S but rather unheard of here in the states. He is powerful as Lauda, his eagerness to win, and evil-genius like qualities are transferred to Bruhl successfully.

I do however feel the film get's to be a bit to much spanning for over 2 hours. I felt it had a little excess that needed to be trimmed off to make this a more straightforward film, as to help it not lag along so much as it did.

All and All, 'Rush' is a beautifully filmed, solidly scripted, and powerfully performed film from director 'Ron Howard' that's more about the characters then noisy racing sequences, which works well. B+ 4/30/14.

'Rush' is rated R for adult content, nudity, language, drug use, and disturbing accident images. It's appropriate for teens and up.