SYNOPSIS: The epic action-drama stars Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers) as the charismatic Englishman James Hunt and Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds) as the disciplined Austrian perfectionist Niki Lauda, whose clashes on the Grand Prix racetrack epitomized the contrast between these two extraordinary characters, a distinction reflected in their private lives. Set against the sexy and glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing, Rush portrays the exhilarating true story of two of the greatest rivals the world has ever witnessed—handsome English playboy Hunt and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Lauda. Taking us into their personal lives on and off the track, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error. If you make one mistake, you die. 

REVIEW: Famed award winning director Ron Howard teams up with Chris Hemsworth (Thor, 2011), and Spanish-born German actor Daniel “Bruehl” Bruhl (who happens to star in one of my favorite German movies called Good Bye, Lenin!, 2003 – Though most might know him from Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and in a minor role in The Bourne Ultimatum), to bring us one of the year’s most powerful rivalry-centric bio-pics. From a distance, Howard’s take on the rivalry seems to be geared toward promoting Formula 1’s (F1) history and presences in the automotive racing world, however, as the two hour flick plays on, one quickly realizes that this movie is about more than just racing… it has a real human side to it and it’s a real story about real characters that had real life-changing rivalries.

Hemsworth plays extraverted playboy driver/race-icon James Hunt, while Bruhl (correctly spelled Bruehl), gives us an unglamorous by-the-book introverted Niki Lauda. Skillfully, they both give us a surprisingly balanced account of two men who make Formula 1 look like the most noble of gladiator sports. Lauda and Hunt are equally served by the story and it’s worth noting that neither man by himself would make a bio-pic you'd much like to see, but paired opposite one another, with opposing ideologies: one no-nonsense and the other very much pro-nonsense, they reveal hidden depths in each other that makes for a very satisfying narrative. Hemsworth has the playboy swagger of a man who genuinely considers his profession to be the modern-day equivalent of a knight in shining armor. He brings the cocky and brash, and makes one wonder what he’s really compensating for. While Lauda, has that typical German engineering focus that requires pure common sense and calculations for each and every decision made in his life, both professionally and personally. And unlike most Hollywood portrayals, there is no damsel in distress, to be found in this story. 

What took away from the movie for me was the cinematography and camera style. The Jerky camera style that sorta’ emulates on-screen action certainly did not do it for me and brought memories of 1999’s The Blair Witch Project. It literally made for a confusing set of sequences that became very frustrating at times. And unfortunately because of having to sit through such visually distressing scenes, I cannot give the movie more than four out of five stars. If one can imagine getting pass such a filming style, then it would make for a nice theater movie because the sound effects are a-must-experience.

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