RUSHGRADE: A
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde
Written by Peter Morgan
Directed by Ron Howard
Rated R
Reviewed by Paul Gibbs
I have never been a car enthusiast. Not that I have anything against cars, I've just never been one of those guys who is in love with anything on wheels. And I'm not a huge fan of competition, which I believe is always more likely to bring out the worst in people than the best. So a movie about the intense rivalry between two 1970s Formula 1 auto racers holds about as little inherent appeal to me as I can imagine any movie could. However, when he's really on, director Ron Howard has a gift for immersing his audience in a particular world or subculture, and for shooting and staging it in ways that thrill us and engage our senses. Howard may not be one of cinema's most revered visionary autuers, and he has definitely given us some unfortunate misfires (The Davinci Code, How The Grinch Stole Christmas). But he is on he 's really on, and his visual and technical skills, as well as the fluidity of his storytelling prowess, can be dazzling. Happily, Rush is one of the times Howard is really on, and he makes a very strong case for a third Best Director nomination (technically he only has two, but I refuse to accept his snub for Apollo 13). As he did with his two best film, Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon, he puts on the edge of our seats for a story where we know what is going to happen. And he pulls us inside an auto race here the way he pulled us inside a fire in Backdraft.
Howard is also helped tremendously here by the return of Frost/Nixon screenwriter Peter Morgan, whose clever dialogue, brisk pacing and vivid characters is a huge asset in telling the story of James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), whose rivalry largely defined both of their racing careers. Another help is that Hemsworth and Bruhl are outstanding here. Hemsworth's Hunt is the fun guy everybody wants to hang out with. He may be arrogant and reckless, but people like him. Bruhl's Lauda is the cold as ice outsider. Just as arrogant as Hunt, he has boiled the thrill of racing into a sterile mathematic equation: Every time he races, there's a 20% chance he could die. If it goes to 21% percent, the risk is too much. Lauda is brilliant and talented, but nobody likes him. Hemsworth breaks out of his Thor persona a bit and really shows us why Hollywood seems to want to cast him in everything these days, giving an extremely engaging star turn that pulls us into caring about and even sometimes rooting for an often unsympathetic character who seems to care little about anything other than his own fun and glory. And Bruhl (best known to U.S. audiences for Inglorious Basterds) shines in the more complex role. Lauda is as abrasive as Hunt is charismatic, and just as prone unsympathetic behavior in his own way, and adding a great deal of nuance to the biggest dramatic developement of the film. It's a testament to the tremendous skill of everyone involved that, when the third act climax rolled around, I found myself so pulled into both characters that I was genuinely torn on which one I wanted to see emerge victorious, while at the same time feeling that I probably should dislike both of them. By the end of the film, I had found relatable qualities to both characters, and actually found merit in both of their philiosphies (while definitely not sharing either of them).
But maybe the best work comes from Howard's longtime editors Mike Hill and Dan Hanley, who for me rank right behind living legends Michael Kahn and Thelma Schoonmaker as possibly the best in the business today. Here they do their most impressive work since their Oscar-winning effort on Apollo 13, creating an exhilirating, kinetic pace from them crazy ammount of gorgeous coverage Howard and cinematographer Anthony Dodd Mantle have given them, and yet somehow still eschewing MTV style hyperactivity. The racing scenes are a masterful achievement from director, cinematographer and editors.
Rush will likely not turn out to be the most meaningful or important film of the year, but it is one of the most compelling, and unquestionably one of the most skillfund its visual excellence is complimented by terrific writing and acting. After a summer wherein so many movies didn't really live up to what I wanted them to be, Howard earns top marks for making a film that far surpassed my expectations. The veteran director has given us one of his best films, and reminded us just how good he can be.
