Film Review: Rush

Director: Ron Howard

Howard is an experienced man whose produced many impressive films over a long film career spanning four decades. A documentary was also produced by the BBC called Hunt vs. Lauda: F1's Greatest Racing Rivals which aired in July. This gave viewers a chance to see old footage of them racing with interviews etc and get a feel for what the film would be about.

The film follows both Hunt and Lauda as they start their careers and their rivalry at a Formula Three race where Lauda blames Hunt's reckless driving for him spinning out of the race. The rivalry is renewed when they both enter Formula One but Lauda forces a move to Ferrari to help him win the 1975 Championship whilst Hunt struggles on a poor team. With Hunt moving to MacLaren both drivers are primed for a huge run at the 1976 Championship.

James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl)

Howard moves back to the 70's following his film Frost/Nixon that was so well received and also sees two men slug it out on the international stage but in this case in driving a Formula One car. Chris Hemsworth actually puts in a decent performance which surprised me having seen him play very similar characters in his previous work but he is still no match for Daniel Bruhl who coolly impresses as the genius Lauda. The driving scenes are quite impressive but on the whole the film didn't wow me and certainly lost momentum with Hunt's marital problems. I think F1 fans will find a lot to enjoy here but for the rest of us I'm not sure.

2/4 F1 fans aside, it doesn't offer a whole lot