There's a distinct Maverick / Iceman dynamic to these new Rush character banners. In the left corner... well, car, is 'the Playboy', James Hunt's hard-driving, harder-living bon viveur; in the right, Niki Lauda's 'Perfectionist'. Methodical, determined, focused. There's a yin and yang to this screen pair we haven't seen since the gang at flight school in Miramar. Look out for a bit where the Lauda says, "I don't like you because you're dangerous," before they all go off and play beach volleyball.
Rush chronicles the 1970s rivalry between Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, swapping helmets) and Lauda (Daniel Brühl), an unrelenting high-speed animosity that often threatened to spill over from the track and into the pit lane.
Director Ron Howard is a quiet master of dramatising period, with Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon as proof, and should augment the diesel-powered track work with authentic '70s detail and compelling character drama.
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With Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara and Natalie Dormer also among the cast, **Rush **(AKA 'Hunt/Lauda') is out on September 13.