Similar to last year’s Best Picture winner “Argo,” “Rush” delivers big on its central performances and visual authenticity, making for an immensely satisfying Hollywood movie that’s all too rare a thing these days. Set in the 1970s world of Formula 1, “Rush” follows the ascension of racing giants James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), a hedonist playboy with raw racing talent and a taste for danger, and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl), a callous tactician whose mechanical ingenuity matches his precise, low-risk finesse behind the wheel.

Director Ron Howard and screenwriter Peter Morgan skillfully handle the central relationship between Hunt and Lauda, building on the tense, passing interactions in the course of their upstart years in “Formula 3” to the fierce rivalry that captured the world’s attention during 1976 “Formula 1” season.
Rightly focusing on the scenes that highlight Hunt and Lauda’s antithetical attitudes, Howard and Morgan effectively persuade the audience’s sympathies back and forth, shaping the human drama in accordance with the thrilling sport that induced it. The film is at its most compelling in these competitive exchanges, be it when Hunt and Lauda trade leads on the track or barbs off it.

Hemsworth may be the face on the poster, but it’s Brühl who steals the show, affecting Lauda’s no-nonsense, by-the-numbers mentality with such clarity that it’s difficult to distinguish him as anyone but the real-life legend on which the character is based. Unfortunately, Hemsworth doesn’t fare as well, seemingly unable to play Hunt with the same level of nuance as his co-star, but he gets by with his natural screen presence. “Rush” is above all else visually spectacular, and though its dramatic beats may feel contrived in moments. It stands as unbridled proof that no one does fast cars better than Hollywood.

amaenche@mavs.coloradomesa.edu