Rush film review: a tale of two heroes

It's often said that just as every movie needs a hero, so too it must have a villain.

But Ron Howard's Niki Lauda/James Hunt biopic Rush manages something very different: it's a movie that has no villain, just two heroes.

Whichever side of the fence you sat on either at the time or since - worshipping the partying high-jinks of Hunt, or favouring the intensity and passion of Lauda - Howard has defined them both as men to be looked up to.

It would've been easy to cast this as an automatic homage to Hunt, the plucky Brit who came from behind in 1976, battled against the odds and his own demons to snatch that last-gasp victory in atrocious conditions at Fuji to become the people's champion.

But such a view would be a huge discredit to what Lauda did that season; and it's Howard's treatment - as well as Daniel Bruhl's amazing characterisation - that brings to life the true heroism of the Austrian that year.

The real Hunt and Lauda at Jarama in 1976 © LAT

To not wince at the stomach-churning scenes of Lauda suffering the agony of his lungs being vacuumed in the days after his Nurburgring accident is impossible; as is seeing him demand that the doctors do it again amid defiance at being forced to see Hunt closing down his championship gap.

Bruhl is easily the star of Rush, brilliantly capturing the essence - including the mannerisms and accent - of Lauda during that fraught battle with Hunt. It's little wonder, then, that much of the narrative of the film takes place from his perspective.

Even Lauda admits that he was 'shocked' by watching himself on screen - as the reality of the extent of his battles hit home.

"When I went through all my mess at the time, I honestly didn't care," he told AUTOSPORT.

"I burned myself, I got up and drove again. It was a mission I had to fulfil - like people do in the war. So I was never affected by any side-effects.

"But when I saw Daniel Bruhl running around in the filming, the way he looked with his ear all covered in blood, the bandage on his head, when he came and talked to me, I was shocked. Was this how I looked at the time? Yes, it was.

Lauda battled through his injuries to complete the season © LAT

"So I had for the first time the impression of what other people thought about me. I shocked a lot of people at the time when I turned up again. They asked, 'how can you race like this, after being half dead?'.

"For me, it has the same effect now as it had on other people at the time. It was quite an interesting experience. It affected me."

One extreme view would even be to view the film as the ultimate love story, for it's a tale of a man who nearly dies in his pursuit of glory, fights the pain barrier to recover against the odds - and then walks away from the ultimate prize for his girl...

But while the overall portrayal of the Lauda/Hunt characters is a success - and will appeal to every type of audience - there are elements of the film that will grate with the hardcore racing fans.

For if you know the difference between Turn 1 at Fuji and the Craner Curves at Donington Park, and such things matter to you on the big screen, then there are going to be bits of the film that will annoy.

Near the start of the movie, for example, Lauda visits Paul Ricard for a test with BRM. The film portrays the pit buildings and him signing on - and meeting his eventual future wife. However, the track action rapidly changes to the pit exit at Brands Hatch...

The British GP controversy does not get much focus © LAT

Recreating racing scenes for movies is never easy. And we all know how bad they looked in Driven. Some of the action in Rush works brilliantly, but equally some fans will be left wide-eyed at the way cars behave in some of the film's incidents - most notably a Formula 3 crash between Lauda and Hunt at Crystal Palace (that never happened in real life!) when the cars spin like they're on a turntable.

There are other aspects that are missing too, chiefly the events surrounding the 1976 British Grand Prix. There is not a single mention of the near-riot after the red flag, the controversy surrounding Hunt's inclusion in the restarted race, nor of the wrangling that would drag on for months and eventually result in his disqualification.

It's these aspects of the film that are likely to be pored over by racing fans when it comes to their verdict on the film. But to let these elements detract from the overall impression of the film would be to do it a massive disservice.

Artistic licence is a necessity in story-telling and it was never going to be financially or logistically feasible for Rush's producers to film all the action sequences at the venues where much of the action was focused. Condensing reality into a two-hour film also requires picking out what is important and what isn't - and perhaps bending the truth a little to make a better story.

As Howard has said about how much of reality has had to be tweaked: "Simplify, just simplify.

"The reality is I could do five seasons on television on the 1976 season, with all the complications, the politics, and the drama. It's amazing.

"As [screen writer] Peter Morgan puts it, you have to respect the truth but you sometimes have to create in order to fully express the truth. You have to fictionalise moments or combine ideas in order to really make people understand a deeper truth about the story.

Chris Hemsworth plays Hunt © LAT

"Peter had a real sense of purpose and responsibility in that regard. It's an interpretation. It's not a documentary, not even a docu-drama. Again, I'm choosing this story in many ways because the facts are more remarkable than what you would dare to do in fiction."

It's also important to stress that Rush was never intended to be a film for the hardcore racing fan.

Commercial success dictates that the film embraces the widest audience possible and in chasing that it has found that right balance between entertaining the fans and appealing to everyone. It's one that husband and wife can enjoy together, whether they like racing or not.

Howard adds: "We're not a documentary. Like Cinderella Man and Beautiful Mind, we're based on a true story, but we have collapsed it into two hours.

"What we're finding is people who know nothing about the sport find it entertaining, exciting and emotional. And so far people who do know the sport also find it very authentic. It's the same reaction I got for Apollo 13 and Backdraft.

"I really wanted to capture the spirit of the role in a really authentic way. It's not about making it bigger or grander or more dramatic."

In that respect, and not as a pure racing movie, Rush is a success.