Rush (Ron Howard)

[Lazlo]

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979320/reference)

http://www.upcoming-movies.com/posters/2013/april/rush-movie-poster-2.jpg

[Lazlo]

Really solid. Great drama, beautiful cinematography and racing sequences, and Bruhl is phenomenal. Suffers a bit from the familiar trappings of a sports movie, but the story is transporting and the rivalry compelling. Hope this gets the big audience it deserves as it's a true crowd pleaser with a lot to offer.

[Morris Schæffer]

Seems to be heading for an incredibly high average rating on the T-Meter. Should see this soon!

[Morris Schæffer]

Moves like a bullet, the cinematography by Boyle collaborator Dodd Mantle is top drawer stuff, the racing scenes are a force to be reckoned with and the movie is definitely more interested in the psyche of its characters than mere racing results. The acting is great, Bruhl deserves a nomination, it's an all-encompassing performance, somewhat of a transformation. Although the movie feels authentic, it is a bit blunt in its characterizations, especially with regards to the James Hunt character. Lots of boozing seems to indicate someone who's been sidelined and unhappy although this is a scripting issue as Hemsworth does goed work with a solid accent. More troublesome concerns rear their ugly head when I did some digging into the real life facts of the story. There's one embellishment later on that is particularly heinous, transforming the rebellious James Hunt into a vicious psychopath. That scene never happened in real life and it bothers me. The racing commentator voiceover - I would assume meant to be legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker - becomes a bit grating towards the end. He's like the kinda character who needs to spell everything out when in fact we pretty much understand what's happening since we're, like, not dumb and all.

[Rock]

I wasn't all that interested in seeing this at first, but what I've glimpsed of the cinematography and the races have piqued my interest.

[Morris Schæffer]

I wasn't all that interested in seeing this at first, but what I've glimpsed of the cinematography and the races have piqued my interest.

There are a lot of close-up of the innards of the F1 car when it's pounding across the tarmac or a pov where the camera appears to be behind the dashboard near the feet of the driver. Although the effect has been seen before in the likes of Fast and Furious, especially, when the car gets an injection of NOS, here it doesn't feel like a computerized sequence triggered by someone pressing enter, but like someone really managed to squeeze the camera in the unlikeliest of places.

[Rock]

There are a lot of close-up of the innards of the F1 car when it's pounding across the tarmac or a pov where the camera appears to be behind the dashboard near the feet of the driver. Although the effect has been seen before in the likes of Fast and Furious, especially, when the car gets an injection of NOS, here it doesn't feel like a computerized sequence triggered by someone pressing enter, but like someone really managed to squeeze the camera in the unlikeliest of places.

This is getting me unreasonably excited.

[Watashi]

Yeah, Amadeus with Formula 1 race cars this is not. It looks good, but I've seen this story way too many times. Wilde's character is so incredibly pointless. This seems like the movie that Talladega Nights was parodying.

Watch Senna instead.

[Raiders]

Ron Howard takes on the tried-and-true John G. Avildsen brand of schematic sports-based filmmaking and comes away with something as maddeningly mediocre as that sounds. The film also seems highly unsure of its portrayal of Hunt, who clearly it has an admiration for but villifies him for the sake of it (making up events just to make him look even more reckless).

Oh, but yes, Bruhl and the racing scenes are pretty damn good.

[Watashi]

What was the event they made up?

[Raiders]

What was the event they made up?

Beating up the journalist, who of course "deserved it" for being rude to Lauda. It is supposedly a noble gesture, but its also pretty psychopathic.

[Morris Schæffer]

Beating up the journalist, who of course "deserved it" for being rude to Lauda. It is supposedly a noble gesture, but its also pretty psychopathic.

It's a highly questionable scene. I pondered lowering my score for a few days after I saw the movie based solely on that sequence.

[Sxottlan]

This was decent and relatively involving. Liked the acting, especially from Bruhl. The racing scenes vacillated between good and too blurry and messy to really follow.


Beating up the journalist, who of course "deserved it" for being rude to Lauda. It is supposedly a noble gesture, but its also pretty psychopathic.

And the set up was so ridiculous. I know a sports reporter's line of questioning can get more personal than news reporters, but that question to Lauda was so completely out of line and unprofessional.

[Morris Schæffer]

This was decent and relatively involving. Liked the acting, especially from Bruhl. The racing scenes vacillated between good and too blurry and messy to really follow.



And the set up was so ridiculous. I know a sports reporter's line of questioning can get more personal than news reporters, but that question to Lauda was so completely out of line and unprofessional.

And yet, supposedly that question to Lauda really happened.

http://www.empireonline.com/features/rush-true-false

[Rowland]

Armond White (http://cityarts.info/2013/09/25/cinema-dopie-part-ii/) says it best: "Howard’s use of crowd-pleasing brutality proves Opie has turned dopey." Booyah!

[Gamblor]

Major takeaway from the film was being impressed by Olivia Wilde's English accent.

[Ezee E]

When it works, it really works. I enjoyed the way that it makes you side with both characters. Consider this the movie that may be the biggest surprise to me this year. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a Ron Howard movie.

[Grouchy]

Not a particularly good movie. Ron Howard directs the hell out of the racing sequences and makes a mess out of any scene with dialogue in it. It's true that Bruhl and even Hemsworth are spectacular, and the movie is a triumph of casting throughout, but when the material is this terrible, there isn't a lot they can do.

The real life story of Niki Lauda, though, is fascinating. How come the advertising for this is just a giant Hemsworth face?

[megladon8]

The real life story of Niki Lauda, though, is fascinating. How come the advertising for this is just a giant Hemsworth face?


Because he's not only the hot one of the two, he's also more recognizable to American audiences.

[Ezee E]

Not a particularly good movie. Ron Howard directs the hell out of the racing sequences and makes a mess out of any scene with dialogue in it. It's true that Bruhl and even Hemsworth are spectacular, and the movie is a triumph of casting throughout, but when the material is this terrible, there isn't a lot they can do.

The real life story of Niki Lauda, though, is fascinating. How come the advertising for this is just a giant Hemsworth face?

I wonder how this did in Europe since F1 Racing is more embraced over there.

I think if you had a F1 race pic here, it'd actually hurt the movie more. Does it even occur in America?

[Grouchy]

Both extremely good points. It didn't occur to me that Americans don't like F1.

Kind of baffled that you guys think it so psychopathic of Hunt to beat up the reporter. He deserved that and more.

[Morris Schæffer]

Kind of baffled that you guys think it so psychopathic of Hunt to beat up the reporter. He deserved that and more.

That never happened though nor do I think he deserved it. Sure, it's a stupid question, but I'm resigned to the fact that some reporters just wanna get a headline. I'm usually not perturbed by some creative licence, but that was really nasty.

[Grouchy]

That never happened though nor do I think he deserved it. Sure, it's a stupid question, but I'm resigned to the fact that some reporters just wanna get a headline. I'm usually not perturbed by some creative licence, but that was really nasty.
I think there's no question he deserved it. I would have forced him to swallow his own teeth.

I share the complaint about the fabrication of the event, though. That's just a crowd pleasing moment. In real life the guy probably walked back to his paper undisturbed. Notice how Howard also makes a point of showing his colleagues giving him the cold shoulder as they walk down the stairs.

[Scar]

Both extremely good points. It didn't occur to me that Americans don't like F1.

Preferring NASCAR to F1 is rather baffling.

I recommend checking out the documentary 1 (2013). Great footage, and discusses the evolution of F1, and the utter lack of safety for quite some time.

[Raiders]

Kind of baffled that you guys think it so psychopathic of Hunt to beat up the reporter. He deserved that and more.

Yes you're right, asking an insensitive and assholish question deserves to be physically assaulted. I guess I'm just too "PC" for you, eh?

[Lazlo]

I wonder how this did in Europe since F1 Racing is more embraced over there.

I think if you had a F1 race pic here, it'd actually hurt the movie more. Does it even occur in America?

It has sporadically and they're trying to get some sort of foothold. The United States Grand Prix has been run in Austin for the past two years. Plans for another race on city streets in New Jersey across from Manhattan have been in the works for a few years but it keeps running into one problem or another.

The fact that most of the races are over before 9am EST on Sundays is a pretty difficult hurdle for expanding their US fanbase.


Preferring NASCAR to F1 is rather baffling.

Seems pretty obvious to me. For starters it may just be what you've grown up with. But it really is better racing, despite the "just run in circles" argument. There's exponentially more passing and the outcome of the race isn't primarily determined by qualifying order. I can understand a preference for the technology of F1, but to me the more level playing field of NASCAR gives the drivers more of a chance to show their skills.

[Grouchy]

Yes you're right, asking an insensitive and assholish question deserves to be physically assaulted. I guess I'm just too "PC" for you, eh?
I can think of no other circumstance right now where I'd endorse kicking the living shit out of a reporter because of his line of questioning. But this has to be the exception that makes the rule. It's like asking a guy recently crippled below the waist if he's looking forward to his new sex life.

Not only is it an asshole question, there's no real purpose to making it, either. Even if you haven't been in a scarring accident, "Is your wife always going to love you?" is not a question anyone can truthfully answer.

[Raiders]

I can think of no other circumstance right now where I'd endorse kicking the living shit out of a reporter because of his line of questioning. But this has to be the exception that makes the rule. It's like asking a guy recently crippled below the waist if he's looking forward to his new sex life.

Not only is it an asshole question, there's no real purpose to making it, either. Even if you haven't been in a scarring accident, "Is your wife always going to love you?" is not a question anyone can truthfully answer.

Doesn't really justify the act nor does it at all assuage the dubiousness of the film's creation of such an attack and then take such delight in it. I mentioned it as I felt the film's general perception of Hunt was muddled at best. They would have done better to stick more to Lauda, but that's just not as sexy I guess. Meh... I like this film less and less all the time.

[Grouchy]

Doesn't really justify the act nor does it at all assuage the dubiousness of the film's creation of such an attack and then take such delight in it. I mentioned it as I felt the film's general perception of Hunt was muddled at best. They would have done better to stick more to Lauda, but that's just not as sexy I guess. Meh... I like this film less and less all the time.
The purpose of the scene is obvious to me. It develops the character of Hunt by showing him defending his rival. It also offers a (fictional) emotional pay-off to the harshness of the question itself, which actually happened.

I think the center of the film's script is Lauda. He's probably closer to the real person than Hunt. I have the feeling they just developed Hunt as everything Lauda was not - charming, womanizing, irresponsible, etc.

I don't really like the film, so there. Would such an attack be justified in real life? I think so, but maybe you're right and I'm a violent nutjob.

[Scar]

Hunt was quite the party boy / playboy. If anything they distanced the relationship between Lauda and Hunt.

[Dukefrukem]

I liked this.

(I NAYed it last year thinking I was NAYING "Premium Rush")