My Review: Rush (8/10)

"The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel. It's a wonderful way to live. It's the only way to drive."

Ron Howard is back on full gear after a couple of setbacks with The Dilemma and Angels and Demons. Rush is one of his best movies and he really does the title justice because you actually feel the rush of Formula 1 driving in this film. This is a great sports biopic that follows a lot of the well known sports cliches, but it works nonetheless thanks to a superb story and some great characters. The difference with the sports formula here is that there is no clear villain as both characters are strong rivals who despite their differences are still likable and sympathetic. They are very different in their approach to racing, but the film doesn't seem to take sides or try to tell us which driver we have to cheer for. Howard's film is intense and exhilarating, one you will enjoy even if you're not a Formula 1 fan. If you have never heard of the real life rivalry during the 70's between drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt then you are in for a thrilling ride here because the story is really gripping and powerful. If you are familiar with the story it is still enjoyable because the racing scenes are gripping with some insane camera angles and some great editing while the two lead performances are strong. This is the second time that Academy Award nominated screenwriter, Peter Morgan, collaborates with Ron Howard after Frost/Nixon, and once again they succeed in delivering a powerful biopic. This isn't Morgan's first screenplay related to sports either as he also wrote the script for The Damned United, one of my favorite sport movies of all time. These two should continue to work together because Rush is exciting and thrilling regardless wether or not you like Formula 1 racing. 

Ron Howard takes us back to the 70's to relive the classic rivalry between two successful Formula 1 drivers: James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Hunt is a British playboy who is passionate about driving and will do what it takes to win each race without considering the risks, while Lauda is a meticulous, extremely disciplined and calculating cold blooded Austrian driver. Despite their opposite personalities, they both have one thing in common: winning. Their rivalry began during the early 70's when they were both facing each other in lower divisions, and it escalated when they both reached Formula 1. The climatic moment takes place during the 1976 championship where a series of spectacular events unfold including a near fatal accident by Lauda and a nail biting season finish. The risks were high in this high speed sport where the safety conditions we have today didn't exist then. The film however doesn't just focus on their rivalry on the tracks, it also follows their personal lives off the track giving the characters more depth. We get a glimpse into Hunt's reckless marriage with Suzy Miller (Olivia Wilde), and Lauda's relationship with Marlene (Alexandra Maria Lara). The rivalry between these two men may just be the extra push they need to become better drivers, but it can also lead to taking more risks in a deadly sport. 

Rush was a pleasant surprise because it wasn't just another sport movie about two bitter rivals; it actually was a film about two rivals who brought the best out of each other and that is what made this biopic so much more interesting. It's that fierce competition between two talented drivers in a fast paced film that leaves you with a sense of rush and raises your pulse. Howard also does a great job at recreating the 70's and delivering some exciting racing scenes. Hemsworth proves he is more than muscles and Bruhl is just as exciting on screen. I wasn't surprised by Bruhl's performance because he had one small scene in Inglourious Basterds that really blew me away, but I really hadn't discovered this side of Chris Hemsworth who proved he has a career after Thor. Rush is such a dynamic and fun viewing experience, one you won't want to miss. The difference between these two lead characters and the way they play off each other is what ultimately drives this film to succeed. I can't think of any other racing movie that worked better than Rush, and I still haven't mentioned how exciting that final race scene played out in the rain with the slow-motion camera. It was breathtaking, give Rush a chance.

My Review: The Dilemma (3/10)

¨ I'd like to think that something that got you through those 40 years is a little friend I'd like to call honesty. ¨

One would expect that a film starring Kevin James (the King of Queens) and Vince Vaughn would be a hilarious comedy, but The Dilemma takes a very different approach and the movie feels more like a drama than an actual buddy comedy, which is what I was expecting and wish it had been so. The film felt weird at times and some scenes which tried to be funny really didn’t work at all. There are very few laughs in this film, and the drama just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The Dilemma is just one of those movies in which the main character keeps on making one bad decision after another and therefore building the tension, when everything could have been resolved a whole lot easier. A much more comedic approach could have worked in order for us to ignore the awkwardness of the story. The talents of James and Vaughn were absolutely wasted in this film and I wish they would have given them much funnier material. I agree that it`s hard these days to make a good buddy comedy because we`ve seen it all by now, but I still would have preferred an average comedy than this weak drama that didn’t even make much sense at times. The characters changed personalities like chameleons at times in order to fit the script and carry along with the plot. I was hugely disappointed with the film and I`m still trying to classify as to what genre they were aiming for when they wrote this story.

Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) have been best friends ever since their college days, now they`ve decided to partner together for their own electronic car design business. Ronny is a good speaker while Nick is the brains in the operation. They are currently signing a deal with an important automobile company that could take their small business to the next level. Nick appears to be happily married with his college sweetheart, Geneva (Winona Ryder), while Ronny has managed to stay single for all these years, but is thinking of proposing to his girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Connelly). The two couples spend a lot of time together and everyone seems to be getting along pretty well. Ronny`s peaceful world is about to get shaken when he discovers Geneva is being unfaithful to Nick. He discovers her kissing another man named Zip (Channing Tatum) and decides to investigate them. Zip is young, muscular, and covered with tattoos, nothing like Nick who is all brains. This is where Ronny`s dilemma begins because he doesn’t know if he should tell Nick about it or confront Geneva about the issue. Their deadline with the automobile company is approaching and Nick has a lot of work ahead of him so Ronny doesn’t want him to get distracted by this scandal, but he is more concerned about his best friend than any other thing. Ronny begins to make one bad decision after another while trying to confront Zip and Geneva, and his moral dilemma begins to bring him some problems of his own with Beth. He will have to find a way to fix the problem before it`s too late.

The premise isn’t anything new; we`ve all considered the option before: whether or not we should tell our best friend about infidelities in his life. The answer is rather simple, a friend should always tell the truth, they should be honest with each other. There are some things that happen in this movie with the story that actually complicate things a little bit. Winona Ryder`s character is not as sweet as she seems and she has a couple of tricks up her sleeves. Channing Tatum`s character was just weird, the scenes between him and Vaughn were really awkward. Connelly is sweet and lovely as usual, but she doesn’t play a major role. James is a really funny actor, but in The Dilemma he hardly gets any comedic scenes. I didn’t buy the whole car engineer thing. Vaughn plays his usual self, but I really didn’t like his character in this film. Queen Latifah has a small supporting role but she goes unnoticed as well, although most funny dialogues were sent her way. The movie really never finds itself and Ron Howard wasn’t able to blend the comedy with the drama. I wish he would have made a comedy instead of trying to focus on the darker moral aspect of the film which leaves us with a cheesy finale anyway. For a dark moral movie, they come up with a rather predictable and lazy ending. I really didn’t like this film at all and wouldn’t recommend it.

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