In from Seeing 'Rush'

"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker)
09/27/2013 at 23:36 • Filed to: Rush

And if the movie had ended at the halfway point, I would have come away very disappointed.

But I'm not sure the fact that the second half of the movie saving the entire thing had much to do with the film itself; I think it was mostly driven by the story. Yes, they did a great job of telling that story, but most of the big puzzle pieces were set for them. The freneticism, the drama...they cultivated it, but it was inherent to the story.

There were two glaring issues, in my mind: the incohesiveness of the plot through the first half of the film, and the quality (or lack thereof) of the racing scenes and specifically the cinematography during the racing scenes.

The plot I can kind of forgive. Racing presents a somewhat difficult environment to stage a plot due to the excessively rigid and not particularly dynamic structure. But, this is Ron Howard and co. we're talking about; I think a lot better could have been done. It just felt a little hargey bargey early on.

The racing scenes/cinematography I can't forgive, though. It was just bad. Completely understand that they had to use CGI for the crashes, but I don't understand the need to use it excessively to cover the simple on-track action. And even when there was real footgage, it seemed very "fake" and processed looking or it was all of the shaky camera can't tell what's going on bullshit. There was just very little in the way of raw, visceral, beautiful cinematography, and that was a real disappointment. Even my girlfriend remarked, "They really didn't go into that much detail with the racing, I wanted to see that."

All in all, I don't think it was a bad film and I still quite enjoyed it, mostly due to the performances of Bruhl and Hemsworth, but I think this was just a massive, giant missed opportunity. This could have been something really special, something like Le Mans or Grand Prix, but instead it's just a decent film and one that seems to me like it won't do much to please enthusiasts or bring new folks into the fold. Too bad.

DISCUSSION (15)

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/27/2013 at 23:43

Bummer. I had high(ish) hopes.

getchapopcorn > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/27/2013 at 23:51

Thank you! I'm glad I'm not alone. I was giving it a day to let it sink in before I spoke and give folks a chance to see it, but everything you said here is exactly what I was going to say.

matthewklein220 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/28/2013 at 02:51

Very true. Someone needs to make another movie like Le Mans .

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > phenotyp
09/28/2013 at 09:50

Still go see it, man, don't let this discolor your opinion before you go in. It's still really enjoyable, I just expected more. Absolutely worth going ASAP, though.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > getchapopcorn
09/28/2013 at 09:51

On the plus side, non-racing types seem to really be liking it, which I think is a victory. I'll trade my satisfaction for pulling more people into the sport.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > matthewklein220
09/28/2013 at 09:53

I don't think that'll happen again, but I think there's a lot from Le Mans that could be incorporated. The cinematography there was incredible, especially the racing scenes. The plot left something to be desired for modern cinema (I loved it), but there's a lot that could be learned from Le Mans and Grand Prix.

Soloburrito > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/28/2013 at 11:05

"The F1 world is exorbitantly expensive. How did you budget the film?
First of all, it is a European production. Everybody involved, even though they were all award winners in just about every category, understood that this was the indie, European version of a labor of love. Even making it as an indie, even foregoing all but 10% or so of the above-the-line fees, we still wouldn't have been able to make that movie in the U.S. for our net number, which is around $38 million."

I think they did a great job pulling this film off with that budget. Hopefully we can get a big budget, race car porn film made again someday.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Soloburrito
09/28/2013 at 20:57

I just don't think that the budget was the real issue. The writing really let the film down through the first half, I think, and most of my issues with the cinematography had to do with the choices made within individual sequences, not the sequence selections themselves.

getchapopcorn > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/28/2013 at 22:38

Absolutely! Don't get me wrong, I think it was a great movie; it juts wasn't the movie I wanted it to be.

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/28/2013 at 23:08

I'll see it at some point, for sure (I mean, I've watched Transformers). But is it one you have to see in a theater?

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > phenotyp
09/28/2013 at 23:10

It kind of added to the theatrics and drama, but it wouldn't be bad in a home setting. Definitely worth seeing once it's in the dollar theaters.

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/28/2013 at 23:12

That's what I was thinking. Plus the fact that in a week I will be driving halfway across the country, it's a pretty low priority.

matthewklein220 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/29/2013 at 03:21

Yeah, someone needs to strap a bunch of RED Cameras to an LMP1 and send it around La Sarthe.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > matthewklein220
09/29/2013 at 09:56

It worked 40 years ago (sans the REDs); not sure why it can't work today. The atmosphere is certainly less romantic compared to what it was in 1970, but something special could still be done.

matthewklein220 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
09/30/2013 at 02:01

Hmmm... Maybe I should make some phone calls.