Writer: Peter Morgan
Cast: Daniel Bruhl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara
The film depicts the merciless rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl)
Hunt is a brash playboy whereas Lauda is more of a Schumacher style perfectionist. One cannot really say that the film puts one character over the other and it is as much a character study as it is a sports film. I generally don't like Sports based films because they generally tend to be very cliched tales of making a comeback against all odds and as if that is not good enough they tend to exaggerate on top of that. This one is not much different, with the rivalry between the two characters exaggerated and then trying too hard to make them come out even at the end. The rivalry itself and the turn of events are remarkable enough for them to make it in a semi-documentary style without Hollwoodizing much. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that Hunt taking the interviewer to the cleaners didn't really happen. The script is sometimes cringe inducing and as if we didn't understand the characters from the first 15 minutes itself, they have to do a whole explanation routine in the last scene.
The color tone of the film is very good and the race scenes are done very well. The commentary that they give with the race is a bit Americanized. I am not a huge fan of Ron Howard even though I quite enjoyed watching 'Apollo 13' and 'A Beautiful Mind', both of which are done in a feel good fashion. I think a British director would have handled this film better because subtlety is not something that Americans do well especially considering that Formula One is kind of alien to that country. Senna is a far better film than Rush and it is also more compelling despite being a documentary.
Rating: 2.5/5
