Review: RUSH

RUSH  (Biopic/Action)
3 out of 4 stars
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Alexandra Maria Lara, Olivia Wilde
R for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing images and brief drug use.
Verdict: The intense peril of the Formula 1 track is captured perfectly in this biopic based on the true-life rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda, and the off-the-track drama is skillfully-crafted as well with fine performances and a well-shaped understanding of the heated dynamics between two talents, but there's too little to sympathize with in the unlikable characters.
YOU MAY ENJOY RUSH IF YOU LIKED:
FROST/NIXON (2008)
DAYS OF THUNDER (1990)
AMADEUS (1984)

Ron Howard's filmography as a director is highly polarized, ranging from the great soaring heights of films like APOLLO 13, CINDERELLA MAN, FROST/NIXON and A BEAUTIFUL MIND, which garnered him an Academy Award as Best Director in 2001, to the abysmal failures that include ANGELS & DEMONS, THE DILEMMA and HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.  His newest film, RUSH, is on the lower end of the better selection.

Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt

RUSH is a sports drama about the rivalry between two legendary figures in the history of Formula 1 racing; sexy and charismatic British playboy James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, best known as Thor from MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS) and cunning and calculating Austrian technical innovator Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl, best known as Fredrick Zoller, the Nazi war hero who acts in his own biopic in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS).  Their personalities are polar opposites outside of each others tremendous ambition and drive, so when they first meet at Formula Three race, they immediately clash, sparking a rivalry that will last through their short careers.  The main body of the film follows the events of the 1976 Formula One racing season, where Lauda, having just won his first championship the year before, and Hunt, seething with jealousy and aiming to dethrone Lauda, find their competition at its peak.
Both Hunt and Lauda are obsessed with racing, often at the expense of the other things in their lives, and their extreme personalities cause them to drive away the people they love.  Lauda is unattractive and egotistical, while Hunt relies too heavily on the sex, drugs and rock and roll lifestyle.  The film compares and contrasts the two men as equal parts of the same whole, where Hunt possesses the charisma and gung-ho enthusiasm that Lauda lacks, while Lauda possesses the work ethic and intent  which Hunt lacks; tratits that if each shared would complete the other as the best Formula One racer there ever was.

Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda

What the film does best is in capturing the pervading sense of danger that these men are addicted to, and how each approaches it differently.  Hunt lives for the sake of cheating death, and the sense of power which that brings to him, while Lauda claims to race because it is the only thing he is good at, but would just as well do something else if he felt so preordained to it.  Every day on the track risks their lives though, and Howard's direction does not skimp on the gory details of the car crashes.
Hemsworth and Bruhl both give strong performances, but the film is hurt by the fact that both characters often have such abrasive personalities with too little to sympathize and connect with.  There's an interesting look at the benefits of conflict to the film, and perhaps it's good that both sides are on equal footing so that neither character receives a better part of the audience's endorsement, but neither is very favorable on their own either, which becomes a problem. 
RUSH isn't quite as great as some are hailing it to be, but it is an interesting film, and works on enough levels that it's worth a look.