Rush (DVD Screening)

(Spoilers)

Rush was a film that I really wanted to see when it was released in cinemas last year however it managed to evade me until now! I remember it receiving mixed reviews upon its release but I always thought I would enjoy it, so I finally picked it up on DVD and gave it watch.

Rush follows the real life rivalry of James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). This story was endlessly more interesting than I thought it would be. I figured I would enjoy it because I quite like cars, Formula 1 is pretty cool and there would be loads of cool racing scenes. However I found myself probably more intrigued by the action off the track. Saying that I think Rush achieves the perfect balance of on track and off track action. Rush could quite easily have focused on the races themselves but instead Howard (Director) decided on occasions to have minimal race footage and highlight the reaction and fallout to these races, something that worked so well. The contrast between these two men was so interesting to watch and their exchanges at the track side were always the best scenes to watch.

Both Hemsworth and Bruhl were pretty great in their respective roles. It was nice to see Hemsworth lose the nice guy ‘Thor’ image for a movie and he just showed how capable he is of playing a variety of roles. Bruhl too was brilliant and probably overshadowed Hemsworth slightly, his performance especially through the sections where Lauda sustained life threatening injuries was fantastic. Ultimately both actors worked well together and what they created here was so engaging to watch, another note would just be how fantastic this casting actually was. I looked up some pictures of the real Hunt and Lauda and the similarities between them and the actors cast here was quite remarkable. A really fantastic job has been done to try and create a genuine likeness to the men that these actors are playing which only elevates this film further into its credibility as a superb sport biopic. The only part of this film I wasn’t so sure on was the narration that Lauda offers near the beginning and end of the film, not to say that it was bad but I just wasn’t too sure that it fitted.

Rush is easily one of the highlights of 2013 cinema and would have certainly featured in my end of year list if I had seen it in 2013. This is a film I am sure that fans of Formula 1, sport in general and great films will enjoy, and the repeat viewings that this film offer are something that I am looking forward too.

BIGGEST FLAW – Possibly Laudas narration

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Two fantastic performances from the lead actors

Rating – 10/10