Film Review: Rush

Rush. Rated MA 15+ (injury detail and coarse language). 122 minutes. Directed by Ron Howard. Screenplay by Peter Morgan.

Verdict: A riveting tale about knowing why, and when, to stop.

Some films, on paper at least, simply shouldn’t work – and this relatively obscure story about Formula 1 drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) is a classic example. Locked in a death-defying battle over 30 years ago for racetrack supremacy, the English Hunt and the Austrian Lauda are like chalk and cheese. One (Hunt) is a privileged playboy, hell-bent on instant gratification and any cost, while the other is a master of self-discipline who believes that any kind of off-circuit, self-serving indulgences only disrespect the spirit of the sport.

In the hands of anyone else but Howard, it’s difficult to imagine this film being as engaging as it is. The time, like the cars, flies by, and just as he did with the fantastic A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Frost/Nixon (2008), Howard focuses closely and unwaveringly on the human condition and delivers a thrilling tale of tenacious and uncompromising rivalry.

Howard has built his directorial reputation by masterfully crafting character-driven films – stories about people experiencing life-changing events that require extraordinary, almost super-human responses (Cocoon, Backdraft, Apollo 13), but without the capes, shields and assorted gimmicks. Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Last King of Scotland) is the perfect match for Howard’s deceptively modest storytelling ambitions, and his excellent screenplay is all lean, uncluttered cinematic torque.

Anthony Dod Mantle’s (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire, The Last King of Scotland) cinematography will delight race fans, especially since no facet of the engineering masterpieces Formula 1 cars are (or what it takes to drive one) is left unexplored. Mark Digby’s (Dredd, Slumdog Millionaire) production design beautifully recreates the 1970s, with outstanding attention to colour and detail.

Hemsworth (who is undeniably on a roll) and Brühl (Good Bye Lenin!, Inglourious Basterds) are both excellent as the leads, and it is a credit to everyone involved that as you walk away from the cinema, it might be almost impossible to decide who, if anyone, really won.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.