Rush

Got pretty excited about this as soon as I heard it was in production. Up until 2014 I'd never been a legit fan of F1, but I liked the idea of it. I wanted to like it. It seemed like I should like it. But I didn't honestly understand it well enough to appreciate it. I watched the opening race of the season a couple weeks ago in Australia and dug it. I'm excited for this weekend's Malaysian GP. I recently read a book by Jackie Stewart so this is about as ready as I've ever been for F1. The chips are stacked.

So we watched Rush last night. It recreates the rivalry in the 70's between the two emerging world champion talents of Niki Lauda and James Hunt. The former, a complete race nerd. German engineering to a T. The latter, a British playboy more interested in the mile high club than shaving a hundredth of a second off his lap time. Both with raw talent, just different attitudes towards the sport. And self-preservation.

You don't need to be an F1 fan to appreciate the film. Of course Ron Howard's not going to make it so. It's accessible to anyone who cares for a good story. A good rivalry. Or who likes to see limeys versus krauts.

It doesn't have the straight up car porn that Grand Prix of Le Mans have. But it's still very much a car-guy's movie. Le Mans is such a car-guy movie that even with Steve McQueen in the film, I feel like it could still alienate viewers. It's by a gearhead for a gearhead. This tows a much more equal balance. Your grandma could get into it, assuming she's not a tool. Honestly, there isn't a whole ton of racing in it. I actually wanted there to be considerably more. Whatever. Maybe there's a Director's Cut on the Blu-Ray...

Overall, it's a bit too glossy. But I still really enjoyed it. It was funny, nail-biting, dramatic, exciting. It was a good film and you should see it.

And if you like it, maybe you should tune into FSN and DVR a GP or two...

The real Lauda and Hunt