Rush is a movie that offers a look at racing unlike I’d ever seen. Okay, so I haven’t seen much about racing. Even so, the movie entertains nicely. But what was more to me was its ability to share a glimpse into the psyches of racecar drivers, even as different as these two drivers were. Granted, I see both of them as giant asses—Hunt, a self-absorbed addicted to who-knows-what-all, and Lauda, a fiercely angry man with an ultra-narrow focus and drive. Then again, as the movie asks early on, “What sort of person does that job?”
I particularly like how the story begins at the beginning (well, after a teensy look at the moments before THE race). This lets you see these two men progress in not only growing into their shallow, egotistical selves, but this also lets you see how the racing industry of Formula One cars is set up, at least a bit. That was interesting.
As expected by me, Ron Howard keeps things exciting. He has a gift for bringing epic scenes to the screen, nicely capturing the excitement of these cars, the races, and the feelings of the gluttony and lust of the 70s. And the casting was spot-on, as seen at the film’s end in the images of the actual people portrayed.
(That said, I don’t know about you, but I was a bit distracted when the song “Look What You’ve Done to Me” (Boz Scaggs) was screaming inside of my head at the sight of Lauda’s love interest first appearing on screen (played by Alexandra Maria Lara). (That, in turn, led to some deeper irritation at this poor woman Lara, me blaming her for trying to steal Bud from Sissy. (And that, of course is *so* unfair; Lara was not even two years old when *that* movie was released.)) Yes, as I said, I got distracted. (want to see for yourself? Check out the bottom image (she’s driving the car; Lauda is the passenger) here: http://f1actual.com/2012/
I don’t expect awards for Rush. It is not magical, or deep, or special. It is big and colorful and fast. But that “fast” statement isn’t necessarily good. It moves quickly (as my movie companion pointed out, sometimes rather too quickly as we leapt, for example, from meeting to marriage in a matter of on-screen moments). It crams a great deal of what could have been depth into barely-played-out scenes. But it did entertain me…enough. And really, that’s all I expected.