With a Metacritic score of 50 and only 2 stars, rogerebert.com critic Susan Wloszczyna doesn't seem to be a fan of the new Ron Howard feature film, Rush.
Based on a true story about Formula One race car drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), Rush depicts the rivalry between the two drivers during the 1976 season.
Wloszczyna doesn't seem to like much about the movie, except maybe the physical appearance of Hemsworth in the role of James Hunt. She states that no movie featuring the "musclebound Aussie can be all bad". However, that where her admiration ends and her criticism of the film begins.
I do agree with Wloszczyna reason for disliking the genre altogether since she believes that the sport of racing is difficult to film since it can become repetitious after lap after lap after lap. And when the off track moments between the characters is not fulfilling, the film becomes redundant.I think the good old boys club structure of the film was a turn off for Wloszczyna and perhaps women in general. There is a lot of sex, women and drugs and plenty of strong language to justify the R rating.
The racing season brings many highs and lows for the two main characters, with one becoming seriously injured after his car catches fire during a race. The men earn each other's respect because of, as Wloszczyna puts it, Director Ron "Howard and writer Peter Morgan eventually show how these bitter adversaries form a bond of mutual respect that can only be achieved when you both put your lives on the line to do what you love".
I think Wloszczyna was too harsh with her rating of Rush because it was a genre that did not appeal to her. Although it does seem difficult to make a film that captures the sport and fully develops the characters off the "playing field".
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