Review: Rush

So Friday's finally hit, and you're looking for a way to spend your night. Well, if you're cinema bound, Tantrum has one serious recommendation - Rush.

Telling the story of the rivalry between Formula One drivers Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), the film is two hours of these well woven characters and their stories, from their first meeting at a Formula Three race to their final showdown in Japan.

The film is based on a true story - but as we went into it only armed with the vaguest knowledge of Formula One, we can't attest to just which parts have been fabricated for your viewing pleasure.

Luckily, viewing pleasure leads us nicely on to the topic of a pleasurable degree of nudity and a not so pleasurable degree of gore. The nudity is pretty much strictly PG - and we're pretty sure that things were a lot wilder in the 70s than that. The gory parts are probably personal taste, but for us, tubing down a throat and an exposed shinbone were enough to have us squirming in our seats. That being said, we're not telling you just who gets injured.

If you can't wait for the movie, you have Wikipedia.

Stellar performances from the two leading men can't quite hide the fact that any of the female characters could be replaced with an attractive lamp without affecting the story - but to be honest, we weren't expecting anything else from the film. The story is focused on the rivalry between Hunt and Lauda, and the character development, especially of Lauda, is well worth a watch.

The action opens at the end of the 1976 F1 season, and the race to become World Champion, with most of the rest of the film explaining the story leading up to that moment, one which began six years previously. F1 scenes are balanced with a great degree of personal development - although the time jumps do mean that occasionally there will be a blink and you'll miss it moment, leaving especially the relationships the two men have feeling a little empty.

The balance between off track and on track scenes is perfect, and when you're listening to the roar of the engines, turning through the corners with the drivers, you'll find yourself sitting forward in your seat as you race for pole position, we swear. Not only that, but there's a nice montage in the middle which moves the action along, recapping what you need to know about the intervening races.

A highly enjoyable film, and one which had us itching to get behind the wheel and pretend we were driving the Nürburgring, we can't recommend Rush more.

While we recognise that there are other cinema chains out there, we can reveal that Odeon cinemas are running a preview of Gravity before showings of Rush. 

EIFF: Paris Countdown (Le Jour Attendra)

Traditionally, Parisian cinema falls easily into one of two categories. You have the quirky, off the path films that warm your heart, and those that are incomprehensible, falling over themselves trying to be cool. Luckily, Parisian Countdown (or Le Jour attendra) falls into neither of these.

The film follows old friend Milan (Olivier Marchal) and Victor (Jaques Gamblin) as they try to navigate their way through a world they supposedly left behind years ago, after betraying a vengeful psychopath. Reunited once more, they’re left to near desperate damage control as events spiral beyond their control, and the question becomes simply how long can their fractured friendship take the strain?

The plot of the movie might sound familiar, but we had a pleasant surprise in store. This isn’t your run of the mill mid-life crisis film – these are men who are now cut adrift in the world that brought them everything they have now. Add to that a soundtrack that should have mass appeal, an impressively authentic feeling club scene, and a final scene sharp enough to lift the film above the rest of its genre.

The performances from the two lead actors are outstanding, bringing to life the dry humour which characterises the film. The chemistry between Marchal and Gamblin is enough to convince the audience that they are in fact long time friends, with the characteristic backbiting and familiarity that’s born from any kind of long term relationship. Our favourite one liner (of which there were many) had to be the wonderful “Japanese culture is too subtle for you.”

The film is subtitled, performed in the original French, and it’s all the better for it. We believe that there are some subtleties of language that English can’t quite capture, and let’s face it – insults always sound far better in French.

The setting is of course the city of love itself, and we’re struggling to think of a time the streets and the Seine were put to better use. Never overshadowing the performances of the actors, the picturesque scenery was the perfect foil to the gritty feel of the story.

Brutal at points, touching at others, and never failing to entertain, Paris Countdown uses the city as an effective backdrop to what is essentially a story of the hold old ties have over us all.