Rush Review | Ron Howard F1 Offering Is Good But Not Great

Orlando Lens
By Nicholas Ware
If you've seen a Ron Howard film, you'll likely feel very comfortable with Rush. The former Opie has become the modern king of middlebrow prestige entertainment: films that are well made, highly watchable, but extremely safe and accessible. In film such as Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and Frost/Nixon, Howard has created fully unobjectionable but largely unexciting movies that feel "right," but never feel exceptional. Rush, the new Howard feature about the rivalry between Formula One race car drivers, this tradition continues. Rush features competent directing and solid acting (with an especially praise-worthy turn from Daniel Bruhl). However, it is the inability for Howard to take chances that holds Rush (and all of his films) back from truly breaking through and taking the checkered flag, but there are still plenty of highlights in its race to tell the true-life tale of reckless James Hunt and efficient Niki Lauda, largely set during the 1976 Forumla One season. For American audience who largely have little knowledge of the sport, the real drama is enough to enrapture, even though it tends to come through in fits and starts. The movie truly soars when the cars on are the track, and in the end, Rush is a satisfying cinematic experience.


While NASCAR is king in America, Formula One rules the rest of the globe in terms of auto racing. The push and pull of Formula One is the breakneck speeds the driver race with the precision of their movements and their cars' engineering. These two aspects are represented in Rush by the brash, dangerous, and charming James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and the controlled, confident, and prickly Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Hunt races to feel alive in chaos; Lauda races to find peace in order. Both drivers share a background of disapproving parents, and despite Hunt's charms,both have trouble connecting with other people. These elements are true of the narrative told in the sporting press at the time as well as told in the narrative of the film, and despite Lauda's greater historical success (including a world championship before the 1976 season) and Hemsworth's prominence in the film's marketing, it truly is a film about both characters and both men; we see their successes and failures both on and off the track including a second-act tragedy that has all the greater impact with an audience ignorant to Forumla One's history.

The most visceral experiences in Rush are the races themselves, which Howard films with a close-in fervor. This leaves them feeling much more cinematic than sporting; like much of the film, it's difficult to understand exactly the time frames of the races except in the key moments. However, those moments have a visual strength that while not fully absorbing is artistically admirable. Howard is less interested in the sport than the men, and the most powerful scene in Rush is a debate that encapsulates the division of Hunt and Lauda. Before a race in Germany, weather conditions have made the track excessively hazardous, and Lauda (who is ahead in points on the year's scoreboard) urges the drivers to cancel the race, both for his gain and for the safety of all the drivers. Lauda, you see, will not race if he believes there is more than a 20% chance he will die. Hunt, on the other hand, would rather die than not race, and the two men curry their competitors favor, playing devil and angel simultaneously.


Though Hemsworth is the movie star in Rush thanks to his role as the comic-book god of Thunder in Thor and The Avengers, Bruhl gives the more outstanding performance in Rush. Lauda is a complicated and unlikable character but Bruhl turns his rationality and emotional bluntness into nearly-warm traits. One of the contrasts between Hunt and Lauda is of course that Hunt is handsome and imposing while Lauda is smaller and more rat-like in his features, but Bruhl's performance increases in its warmth and courage until the film's conclusion. Bruhl's work is Rush's greatest artistic achievement, and one that is likely to be rewarded come Oscar season.

Rush opens today at most major multiplexes. Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing content, and brief drug use. Run time 2 hours 3 minutes.