Viewed in
2013
Formats
Movie theater.
Premise
Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl star as famous Formula 1 racers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, in the biopic about their rivalry and Lauda's life-threatening accident.
Liked
Enthralling races, memorable characters, strong performances.
Thoughts
A really enjoyable sports drama.
I view Ron Howard as a solid director, but without a great sense of excitement nor squeezing memorable performances. So I was very much taken by surprise because this film excelled in both.
Personally, I was never a racing fan. But here, the race scenes were much more intense than I anticipated. Technically, I don't know what did the trick, aside from exceptional sound design. Nevertheless, it worked, I was caught in the neck-to-neck racing, and also on edge with the threat of dangerous crashes. Kudos to Howard for showing the chaos of racing without chaotic filmmaking. Obviously it helped that I knew nothing about their history, so every twist-and-turn was a surprising outcome.
While Thor was the much bigger name, I felt like this was Lauda's story, and Bruhl was sympathetic and root-worthy. The filmmakers did a good job of distinguishing between the two leads, not just in terms of casting, but in performance and writing. As nerdy person, I found myself gravitated to Lauda's brainy, driven, and coarse personality. His indomitable will shined brightly during the rehab scenes. Lauda and Hunt's differences in persona and need made both easy to cheer for, thus making the obligatory big race absolutely compelling.
I recommend Rush for its surprisingly thrilling race scenes and fleshed-out characters.
