A high-speed rivalry for the ages

‘Rush’ review

By Steven Cayer, Senior Columnist

5/5

Ron Howard’s Rush follows the true story of an iconic rivalry formed in 1970 between two Formula One drivers: a suave English playboy named James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and an Austrian expert of mechanical engineering named Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl). To add a dash of reality, actual footage of the real events is sprinkled throughout the movie.

Their rivalry comes to a head in 1976, starting at the Spanish Grand Prix and ending at the last race in the Japanese Grand Prix. I’m not going to go into detail about the story because you can probably figure it out from the Internet, but I recommend seeing the movie before you do.

The highlight of this movie comes from the work of cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who pulls off camera angles that are nothing short of breathtaking. They make you feel like you are actually driving in F1. Either you’re on the edge of your seat trying not to crash, or you’re at the back of your seat trying to recover from a crash.

It’s also interesting how Howard explores the contrast between a risk-taker and a methodical thinker in these characters.

Whether you know absolutely nothing about car racing like me, or you know everything about the rivalry from the ‘70s, you are in for an extremely fast and exciting ride with this movie.