Rush (2013)

This film was actually better than I expected, considering I know nothing about Formula One racing. Here, we have the portrait of two completely different champions: James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), the blond British Playboy and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl, the better role), the Austrian hothead. While Hunt celebrates his victories with extra booze and women, Lauda stays loyal to his wife and actually values marriage. (He wears a wedding ring; Hunt does not.)
They have a rivalry on the track, with Lauda having the far better work ethic and a better understanding of how the vehicles work where Hunt is more brash and daring when he races. And then, the unthinkable happens: Lauda is badly burned in early August 1976, during a race on the Grand Prix circuit. He is in the hospital for about forty days and undergoes a skin graft but upon his release and against medical advice, he almost immediately returns to racing to defend his World Championship. He finishes a mere fourth but that finish is celebrated by many. Hunt didn't finish, engine troubles. However, though Lauda has his second straight championship in the bag, the weather conditions are so dreadful in Japan, he forfeits the race, wanting to come home to his wife at the end of the day.
But he would have two more in his lifetime, that one victory was all Hunt needed to fuel him for the rest of his too short life.
Despite the words they have to say to each other, they do truly respect each other and when a reporter is cruel to Niki upon his release saying how can his wife love him when he looks as bad as he does, Hunt beats up that reporter afterwards. And Hunt's victories while Lauda was recovering inspired him to get back out on the track even though Hunt was the one who insisted on racing in the rainy conditions in the first place.
My faults with the film include the scene where Hunt is disqualified from a race because his car is an inch too short. I wanted to know why that would mean he was disqualified and what some of the other car-related reasons for disqualification could be. And then, his win is reinstated and I wonder how that could be possible. I also thought Olivia Wilde was wasted in her small role as the model Suzy Miller, Hunt's wife, who would leave him for Richard Burton. I also wanted more of Lauda's relationship with his wife Marlene (Alexandra Maria Lara) especially after his accident in which she stood by his side and he respected her for it.
Despite that, the film had the necessary authentic feel and the actors were quite good and that made the film incredibly watchable. Watch for great actors Natalie Dormer, Christian McKay and James Norton (literally one of the few things the male gender has going for it at the moment) in small parts. Grade: B+