Rush (2013)

My idea of fun auto racing is the Mario Kart series; the real thing is even less on my radar than most sports popular in the U.S. So I was in no, eheh, rush to see a movie about it. But given Rush's awards and nominations, not to mention its place in the IMDb top 250, I decided to give it a shot.

Based largely on true events, it depicts two Formula 1 racers who were big in the 1970s. James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) is a party animal and ladies' man. Engineering genius Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl, convincing enough to wow the real Lauda) abandons his aristocratic Austrian business heritage and prefers not to project a congenial air; he is to be feared. By some chance, from their first race together, they form an intense personal rivalry -- but those have a way of growing to resemble friendship, especially when one of the two men has a crisis....

Oh look, Ron Howard helming another sports flick. Once again, this is made to feel more important than just a question of winning or losing a game. In this case, the most important aspect is how dangerous the sport can be to one's health. It makes boxing look comfortable. Hunt and Lauda fittingly get into some philosophical disagreements on how to approach life.

Apparently, contemporary sportscasters focused heavily on their rivalry as well. Only in the final race do we get any sense that the other drivers matter at all. (That's also where I finally heard a familiar name, Mario Andretti.)

I'm sure a big part of the movie's appeal lies in the portrayal of high-octane driving. Not only is it excitingly intimate (too bad I watched on a smaller screen), but the makers did not use as many special effects as you'd think; people, including the main actors themselves, really did drive at pro racing speeds. Viewers have found many errors, some of them embarrassingly major, but none that I'd have noticed independently. The general verdict from the racing community is one of high authenticity.

None of that means much to me. What I saw was a portrait of two jerks, with no compunctions against swearing into microphones during interviews. Like in The Prestige, it's hard to know whom to root for. Unlike in The Prestige, they don't engage in sabotage or other cheating, tho they do sometimes accuse one another of the latter. If I had to choose, I'd choose Lauda, who at least seems to learn a lesson instead of indulging in debauchery to the end (to be fair, true stories rarely work well from a moral standpoint); but I decided to appreciate how close the competition was more than anything else.

Both men have side plots involving their love interests, who must contend with their attention being drawn elsewhere. Alas, this movie does not make very respectful use of women. You may expect as much from a story about Formula 1, but did we have to see the nipples of every woman Hunt meets?

The other thing that stands out to me is the soundtrack. In addition to some hit oldies, it has a score by Hans Zimmer, which stands out pretty well. Speaking of sound, prepare to hear a fair bit of German and Italian (again already?).

I give the film credit for providing a close, warts-and-all look at lifestyles very different from mine. Unfortunately, it feels gratuitously overdone to me. Maybe you have to feel less out of place in their world to like it. Sorry, Howard; you may have won a lot of hearts as a director, but I still prefer your acting days.