Rush

Synopsis: In 1976 Formula One motor racing saw a spectacular rivalry between Austrian-born Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) and debonair British playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth). This big-screen recreation brings the golden era of car racing back to life – the glamour, the sexiness, the noise, and the ever-present danger to life and limb faced by the courageous drivers.

Love or loathe Formula One, I can’t imagine anyone failing to be impressed by Hollywood maestro Ron Howard’s stunningly executed, high-octane take on this true-life story. Even though F1 is generally seen as anachronistic in these environmentally-aware days the film spectacularly captures for us a period in which the sport was not only in its heyday but the drivers were ever at risk of death with an average of  two drivers dying each year.

The film tracks back to 1970 when Hunt was driving in what was known as Formula 3 – an important stepping stone for aspiring F1 drivers. He’s presented as the daredevil playboy overindulging in everything while, by contrast the young Lauda is portrayed as an earnest fellow, obsessed with modifying the cars to his exact requirements and seldom letting his hair down.  Whilst Hunt is a hedonistic charmer, Lauda seems quite lacking in social skills, his bluntness often being seen as rudeness. We meet the women in each man’s life: Hunt marries, quite unexpectedly, model Suzy (Olivia Wilde), a marriage doomed to failure, while Lauda gets hitched for life to the loyal Marlene (Alexandra Maria Lara).

The women in these men’s lives are secondary to their fanatical rivalry, a contest that not only spurs them to greater heights but also eventually paves the way for a grudging respect and friendship. I’ve never understood the drive that makes a champion but this film shows it to perfection. It also portrays the type of personality that ranks winning above personal safety, and as the world remembers, Lauda found out about this when his car crashed and burned in the 1976 Nurburgring Grand Prix. Only six weeks after the crash, still with horrific burns, Lauda is determined to go back onto the circuit as he cannot bear to see his arch-rival winning so many races.

Whilst Bruhl is well known for his many roles in German film, former Home And Away cast member Hemsworth shows that he’s much more than a beefcake poster boy for fantasy-action movies. He oozes sexy bad-boy charisma and can do a good British accent to boot. As well as the two fabulous lead performances, the cars, the track, and the superb camera work are stars in their own right. The race sequences are simply thrilling. The roar of the engines, the blur of the vehicles, the danger you can almost smell as the camera gets down low into the driver’s seat – all this makes for nail-baiting thrills and tensions, reminding us constantly of what a death-defying sport this is and one requiring split second timing and extraordinary skill. The cars, the pit stops, and the race circuits are faithfully recreated. And of course the ghastly crash scene itself, in which Lauda’s car and face burnt at temperatures of 800 degrees, is nightmarish. Each Grand Prix of that super-competitive year of 1976 is given its due and yet the film becomes so much more than a rev-head’s testosterone-driven dream - it’s truly about greatness, bravery, friendship and the will to win.   

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