Title: Rush (2013)
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra
Maria Lara
So I’m not a big sports fan, actually, talking sports with
me will result in a big ole blank stare right in your face because I know
nothing! I’ll go see a boxing match every once in a while, but most of the time
I don’t know who the hell is fighting till the very moment I’m seeing the fight
with my friends, for me sports are more of a social thing. Same goes for
basketball, football…I am a huge sports void. And yet I found myself attracted
to this movie, for various reasons, one of them being that Ron Howard was
behind the director’s chair and he’s always been a director that I respect and
whose films I enjoy. Also, the previews made it look like a cool movie about
race cars, which it was. I wasn’t even aware that the film was based on the
true story behind the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1976
Formula One Racing Championship, which as it turns out, now I know a little
more about.
The real life Niki Lauda and James Hunt
The film centers on these two diametrically opposed racers,
one is James Hunt, who lives his life like a rock star, bedding as many ladies
as he can, drinking, partying, doing drugs. Basically, Hunt is the kind of guy
who wants to have his kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames. And
on the other hand we have Niki Lauda, a calculating, disciplined and methodical
racer who knows a lot about what makes a race car go faster. He takes only
calculated risks and really thinks his way through things, while Hunt has no
problems with a) having sex before a race, b) driving hung over or c) pulling
off a couple of unsavory tricks in order to win the race. Who of the two will
have what it takes to become the world champion?
The marketing for RUSH makes it look like it’s going to be a
James Hunt biopic. I mean what else can you think when Chris Hemsworth’s face takes
up the whole poster? Immediately you think Hemsworth is going to be the center
of the film, and in a way he is but in a way he isnt. You see truthfully,
this is the story of two guys, Hunt and Lauda, but when we really get down to
it, the movie might as well have been called ‘The Niki Lauda Story’ because in
my opinion, the film has more of Lauda than Hunt. Of course this could have
something to do with the fact that Lauda is still alive and served as a
consultant for the film, which of course means that the memories and anecdotes are
all coming from Lauda’s side of the story. But then again, it could also have
something to do with the fact that of the two, Lauda was the better racer.
True, Lauda had a near fatal accident in which he was almost burned alive, but
everyone seems to agree, had Lauda not had that terrible accident, he would
have beat Hunt who up to that point was struggling to keep up with Lauda, who
was way ahead of him. In the end, it’s Lauda’s story of overcoming great
personal tragedy that brings us some of the more heartfelt and interesting
moments in the film.
Hunts story is that of a playboy racer, the rock start of
the racing circuit, having sex like a mad man and partying like its 1999. This
is the reason why he was the peoples favorite; people liked him because of this
party animal persona. In contrast, Lauda seemed like this uptight dude who took
things to seriously. The film does focus on the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt,
but it also shows that they had admiration for each other. The competition
between the two pushed them to their limits, and while they were battling over
who’d become the world champion, they also admired each other because they knew
they were competent rivals. But when we
compare both stories, Hunts story seems superficial when compared to Lauda’s tale
of survival. After seeing the film, I liked Hunt but felt that Lauda’s the one
worthy of admiration. I mean, the guy went through all that he went through and
he still continued racing! Lauda was so driven that just a few weeks after his
terrible accident, he put his helmet back on and kept on racing. A truly
admirable feat considering the degree of burns he acquired in the accident. In that
sense, Lauda’s story reminds me of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1994), where we
learn how Bruce Lee overcome a horrible back injury yet went on to become a
legend anyways, nothing was going to stop him. These are stories of remarkable
human beings with real talent who suddenly face themselves with a potentially life
destroying event. What I like about stories like these is that they portray characters
whose wills were so strong, that nothing deterred their plans for living an
exceptional life.
In terms of direction, the movie has a very unique look to
it, emulating the look of films from the 70’s. Ron Howard puts the camera in
some very interesting places on this one. When it comes to the races, they get
pretty exhilarating, loved how Howard put the camera on the cars and the
helmets of the racers. There’s lots of extreme close ups on this film, so you
might get to feel like your right there in the car with the racers. Bottom line
is , I might not love sports, but I do love movies that show how we can achieve
anything if we put our minds to it, and RUSH is one of these movies. The real life
aspects of the film were actually truthful this time around. By this I mean that
often times films that are based on real life events take so many artistic
liberties that they end up being extremely different from the “real life events”
they are aiming to depict, but from what I hear, RUSH is actually pretty
accurate portrayal of Hunt and Lauda’s story. So much so that Lauda himself
loves it and has a approved of it: "When I saw it the first time, I was impressed. There was no Hollywood changes, or things changed a little Hollywood like. It is very accurate, and this really surprised me positively" - Niki Lauda (Carjam TV Interview, September, 2013) So
at least you know you are getting the true blue story behind the whole thing,
Niki Lauda gave it the okay, and considering what a stickler he is for detail,
I’d take that as a good thing. And considering how I’m a stickler for good
movies, I’d take my high rating as a good thing as well!
James Hunt exploiting his playboy image
