Wednesday, February 12, 2014

RUSH





RUSH Review
By Darin Skaggs

     Ron Howard is a hit or miss director.  Unfortunately, he is mostly miss.  He has classics such as Apollo 13 and Cinderella Man.  His misses are too many to count.  Sadly his new film Rush can be included in the not so good Howard films.
     The film is about the real life tale of Formula One racers and rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda, who are played by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl.  They spend most of their career as rivals and also forming an odd friendship.  The film focuses on an accident that Lauda is a part of and how it affects both racers.
     The positive aspects of the film are when the races occur.  The shots are beautiful and incredibly entertaining.  You will be on the edge of your seat.  Howard makes the races interesting even if you care nothing about the sport.  When a crash happens you really feel the impact.  The car design looks authentic.  The film is set in the 1970’s so the cars are older looking and the game is more dangerous which comes across real well.
     The most important part and least convincing is the relationship between Hunt and Lauda.  These parts move slow and are not all that interesting.  At the end of the film real life footage is shown of the two hanging out.  They look relaxed and friendly.  The film does not show that at all.
     The third half of the film is the most meaningful and entertaining.  Lauda crashes during a race and goes through extensive therapy.  These moments are hard to watch and really reflect what the film is trying to get across.  We get the physical toll on these men but do not get a sense of what they feel.  That is the whole problem with the film.  We get no sense of these men’s emotions.  We only get the physical aspect of what these men go through which is not enough to carry this film.
     This film is full of entertaining races and not so fun conversations.  The performances are worth a look but the script and direction is below average.  The film’s point, the relationship between these two men, is not in focus.   

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