It’s that time of year between the end of summer and the beginning of the Oscar races when, traditionally, the genuine crap starts hitting the multiplexes. (You’ll also find crap from January to March, and, depending on your point of view, all year.)
Rush, Ron Howard’s latest, is not crap. It isn’t Oscar-worthy, either, but after Howard’s last few pictures—among them the abysmal The Dilemma and Angels & Demons—just good is a nice change.
Rush is a simple biopic of two men. The first is Formula 1 driver James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, who actually isn’t as good looking as Hunt was), a hard drinking, heavy smoking, drive-from-the-gut English stud with a privileged background, who would rather race cars than be a doctor. The other man is Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl, who’s better looking than his true-life counterpart; American audiences may know him best from Inglorious Basterds), an Austrian-born driver with impeccable driving and a discipline that makes him hard to beat.
Naturally, they hate each other. But over the course of the film they grow to respect each other as they prove to be the two best drivers of their era, the mid-1970s.
In real life, Hunt and Lauda liked each other much more than they do on the screen, but a screenplay without tension is boring. Maybe Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan thought the literally death defying driving wasn’t enough on its own. Maybe they saw Days of Thunder and thought, “Man we can do this much, much better, and with real people.”
Whatever the reasoning, Rush is quite a ride. It has nothing new to offer in terms of character development, racing insight, or screenwriting, but it does several things well that make it fun.
First, there’s Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography, which captures the grit of racing along with the washed out colors we’ve come to associate with the 1970s, complete with the visible grain. Then there are the period details, from the clothing to the hairstyles, which manage to capture the look of the time without its inherent—in our memories, anyway—corniness.
Lastly, there’s the driving, which is shot in every possible way, from inside the cars, to above the race courses, to on the ground. Mantle’s shots are well-composed and the breakneck pacing is an aid, not a hindrance.
None of that would matter without two compelling leads, and Hemsworth and Brühl acquit themselves well. Brühl, in particular, does excellent work, making Lauda both an irritating asshole and a likable realist. When he suffers a devastating crash, we’re really pulling for him. Hemsworth is good enough; though he doesn’t have much range as an actor, he’s found his niche—good looking tough guys with hearts of gold—and does it with vigor.
There are other characters, but they’re mostly used for comic relief or paper thin character development. Olivia Wilde disappears almost as quickly as she arrives.
But there are sharp moments amid all the gear shifting. One involves Hunt and his interaction with a reporter whom he thinks insulted Lauda. And there’s Lauda’s final voiceover, which puts his relationship with Hunt in touching perspective. Rush is good, and hopefully a resurgence for Howard after years of stumbling.
Playing this week
Austenland
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Battle of the Year
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Blue Jasmine
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
The Butler
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Despicable Me 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The Family
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
In a World
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Insidious Chapter 2
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Iron Man 3
Carmike Cinema 6
One Direction: This is Us
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Pacific Rim
Carmike Cinema 6
Paranoia
Carmike Cinema 6
Percy Jackson:
Sea of Monsters
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Planes
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Prisoners
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
R.I.P.D.
Carmike Cinema 6
Riddick
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Short Term 12
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
The Spectacular Now
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
Thanks for Sharing
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
This is the End
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
Turbo
Carmike Cinema 6
The Way, Way Back
Regal Downtown Mall Cinema 6
The Wizard of Oz
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
We’re the Millers
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
The World’s End
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
World War Z
Carmike Cinema 6
Movie houses
Carmike Cinema 6
973-4294
Regal Downtown Mall
Cinema 6
979-7669
Regal Stonefield 14 and IMAX
244-3213