The Psychology Of Ruthless Competition

I was so reluctant to see Rush when I first watched the trailer. But a New York Times rave review convinced me otherwise. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised emerging from the cinema tonight.

My confidence in Ron Howard the director also explained why I changed my mind about going to this movie. Howard has the track record of undeniably great works, including Apollo 13, Backdraft, A Beautiful Mind and Frost/Nixon. Similar to Ang Lee, his talent is so diverse and he has demonstrated great versatility in a wide range of film genres.

Howard's directorial debut in 1977, Grand Theft Auto, was his only other movie focusing on cars. Other than that, Howard admitted that he knew nothing about car-racing prior to making this movie. It was the talented British screenwriter Peter Morgan, with whom Howard collaborated in Frost/Nixon, who first approached him with the script. Howard became interested and started taking some lessons in Formula Three racing in order to get a feel of the thrill. Morgan, whose wife is Austrian, also met with the real Niki Lauda for some 30 dinners in a Vienna restaurant to get an in-depth analysis from the former world champion himself.

The resulting work is a superb work of art. Howard took the audience right behind and in front of the racecar driver's seat - with the camera so close sometimes that you could almost count the driver's eyelashes. But you don't need to be a racecar fan to enjoy this movie. Technically, it may be a movie about autoracing, but Howard really took the sport to a macro level - it's the psychology of competition between the two rivals - British James Hunt (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Austrian Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Bruhl) - which was fascinating. Two polar-opposite individuals with different philosophies in life anchored the rivalry, respect and a life-long love-hate relationship between the two top drivers of the 1970s. Howard also left it to the audience to determine whose side are they on. As a director, he was deliberately unbiased.

Both principal actors are superb. Australian heartthrob Chris Hemsworth (best known for his role in Thor) has the good looks and charisma of playboy Hunt, while Spanish-born German actor Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) demonstrates the precision, determination and ruthlessness of Lauder. Both were world champions, but in the end, the film left you questioning whether you're the living-for-the-present Hunt, or the committed, serious and hard-working Lauda. One may be intoxiated by Hunt, but it's the tough, persevering Lauda that one wants to emulate in life.

In spite of the film's dramatization of the dangerous sport, the movie is also very true to history which makes it all the more fascinating. The 64-year-old Lauder provided a lot of input and the movie was shot in actual racing circuits in 11 locations in England and Germany. Full attention to detail was paid to the era of the 1970s. If you like docu-dramas, you will love this film!