Alex Sallas
The Silhouette
Rush is a nicely paced and well-acted racing film that's more about the characters than the cars. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl star as Englishman James Hunt and Austrian Niki Lauda, both Formula One drivers and both at the top of their game. The similarities end there, though. Hunt is a ladies' man – brash, fond of alcohol and partying, while Lauda is reserved – obsessed with technicalities and every detail of his car. Of course, a huge rivalry develops between these two men, diametric opposites in terms of personality and attitude, but both sharing a love for the track.
The racing scenes in Rush are very well done and appropriately thrilling, but its the characters to which the film devotes much of its time, and rightfully so. Both leads put in great work, while the supporting cast, featuring Olivia Wilde and Alexandra Marie Lara, do the same. The visual effects are very good, especially in one scene involving the draining of lung fluid, and Ron Howard directs the film skillfully, getting a lot out of his actors and filling the film with a nice variety of camera angles and shots.
Rush never drags but I would have liked to see a few of the aforementioned supporting characters developed a little more. Some of the earlier race scenes could have been trimmed a little to make room for this. All in all, while Rush may not be a perfect film, it is still a very, very good one.
4/5
