Rush (2013)

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nTitle: Rush (2013)

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nDirector: Ron Howard

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nCast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde, AlexandranMaria Lara

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nSo I’m not a big sports fan, actually, talking sports withnme will result in a big ole blank stare right in your face because I knownnothing! I’ll go see a boxing match every once in a while, but most of the timenI don’t know who the hell is fighting till the very moment I’m seeing the fightnwith my friends, for me sports are more of a social thing. Same goes fornbasketball, football…I am a huge sports void. And yet I found myself attractednto this movie, for various reasons, one of them being that Ron Howard wasnbehind the director’s chair and he’s always been a director that I respect andnwhose films I enjoy. Also, the previews made it look like a cool movie aboutnrace cars, which it was. I wasn’t even aware that the film was based on thentrue story behind the rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1976nFormula One Racing Championship, which as it turns out, now I know a littlenmore about.

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nThe film centers on these two diametrically opposed racers,none is James Hunt, who lives his life like a rock star, bedding as many ladiesnas he can, drinking, partying, doing drugs. Basically, Hunt is the kind of guynwho wants to have his kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames. Andnon the other hand we have Niki Lauda, a calculating, disciplined and methodicalnracer who knows a lot about what makes a race car go faster. He takes onlyncalculated risks and really thinks his way through things, while Hunt has nonproblems with a) having sex before a race, b) driving hung over or c) pullingnoff a couple of unsavory tricks in order to win the race. Who of the two willnhave what it takes to become the world champion? 

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nThe marketing for RUSH makes it look like it’s going to be anJames Hunt biopic. I mean what else can you think when Chris Hemsworth’s face takesnup the whole poster? Immediately you think Hemsworth is going to be the centernof the film, and in a way he is but in a way he isnt. You see truthfully,nthis is the story of two guys, Hunt and Lauda, but when we really get down tonit, the movie might as well have been called ‘The Niki Lauda Story’ because innmy opinion, the film has more of Lauda than Hunt. Of course this could havensomething to do with the fact that Lauda is still alive and served as anconsultant for the film, which of course means that the memories and anecdotes arenall coming from Lauda’s side of the story. But then again, it could also havensomething to do with the fact that of the two, Lauda was the better racer.nTrue, Lauda had a near fatal accident in which he was almost burned alive, butneveryone seems to agree, had Lauda not had that terrible accident, he wouldnhave beat Hunt who up to that point was struggling to keep up with Lauda, whonwas way ahead of him. In the end, it’s Lauda’s story of overcoming greatnpersonal tragedy that brings us some of the more heartfelt and interestingnmoments in the film.  

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nHunts story is that of a playboy racer, the rock start ofnthe racing circuit, having sex like a mad man and partying like its 1999. Thisnis the reason why he was the peoples favorite; people liked him because of thisnparty animal persona. In contrast, Lauda seemed like this uptight dude who tooknthings to seriously. The film does focus on the rivalry between Lauda and Hunt,nbut it also shows that they had admiration for each other. The competitionnbetween the two pushed them to their limits, and while they were battling overnwho’d become the world champion, they also admired each other because they knewnthey were competent rivals. But when wencompare both stories, Hunts story seems superficial when compared to Lauda’s talenof survival. After seeing the film, I liked Hunt but felt that Lauda’s the onenworthy of admiration. I mean, the guy went through all that he went through andnhe still continued racing! Lauda was so driven that just a few weeks after hisnterrible accident, he put his helmet back on and kept on racing. A trulynadmirable feat considering the degree of burns he acquired in the accident. In thatnsense, Lauda’s story reminds me of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1994), where wenlearn how Bruce Lee overcome a horrible back injury yet went on to become anlegend anyways, nothing was going to stop him. These are stories of remarkablenhuman beings with real talent who suddenly face themselves with a potentially lifendestroying event. What I like about stories like these is that they portray charactersnwhose wills were so strong, that nothing deterred their plans for living annexceptional life.

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nIn terms of direction, the movie has a very unique look tonit, emulating the look of films from the 70’s. Ron Howard puts the camera innsome very interesting places on this one. When it comes to the races, they getnpretty exhilarating, loved how Howard put the camera on the cars and thenhelmets of the racers. There’s lots of extreme close ups on this film, so younmight get to feel like your right there in the car with the racers. Bottom linenis , I might not love sports, but I do love movies that show how we can achievenanything if we put our minds to it, and RUSH is one of these movies. The real lifenaspects of the film were actually truthful this time around. By this I mean thatnoften times films that are based on real life events take so many artisticnliberties that they end up being extremely different from the “real life events”nthey are aiming to depict, but from what I hear, RUSH is actually prettynaccurate portrayal of Hunt and Lauda’s story. So much so that Lauda himselfnloves 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) Sonat least you know you are getting the true blue story behind the whole thing,nNiki Lauda gave it the okay, and considering what a stickler he is for detail,nI’d take that as a good thing. And considering how I’m a stickler for goodnmovies, I’d take my high rating as a good thing as well!  

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