Rush, out this week on DVD & Blu-ray

'In his version of events, each and every character speaks like a race commentator, clarifying events as they happen and saying things like "Ready? I've been waiting for this my whole life..."'


Reading this on mobile? Click here to view

What makes a film British? It's a question that rolls around every January as Bafta's annual nominations spill out of the gate, and their definition of "homegrown" becomes ever broader. This year, all manner of foreign co-productions have made the cut, despite settings as far-flung as South Africa (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), Disneyland (Saving Mr. Banks) and outer space (Gravity). Next month, they'll compete for the title of outstanding British film, alongside unarguably local offering The Selfish Giant (which is also out on DVD this week), and Rush, a film with German backing, an American director, Australian and Spanish-born German leads, and a whopping 16-country setting.

The chief British link in Rush's globetrotting chain is Peter Morgan, the screenwriter behind such prosaic historical reenactments as Frost/Nixon, The Queen and The Damned United. Here, he puts his knack for writing about famous people doing famous things to familiar use, with the story of the legendary rivalry between British Formula One driver James Hunt and his Austrian adversary Niki Lauda. As the warring pair, Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl are on career-best form, but they spend more time doing battle with Morgan's script than with each other. In his version of events, each and every character speaks like a race commentator, clarifying events as they happen and saying things like "Ready? I've been waiting for this my whole life..." with no visible degree of irony.

The film's most impressive quality, on the other hand, is a distinctly foreign import. Where most British versions of the story would cast Hunt as the cocky, good-looking hero, and Lauda as his snivelling pantomime foil, Rush shares its sympathies out equally between the two. And who knows, if we're willing to claim that as a multinational somehow British achievement, maybe we can pass off Peter Morgan as a multinational failure in exchange.

StudioCanal, Blu-ray & DVD

Also out this week

Sunshine On Leith Peter Mullan leads a love song to the Scottish district

The Call Halle Berry picks up in this kidnap thriller

The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones Critically panned demon slaying

Contributor

Charlie Lyne

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Mitt, out this week on Netflix

'An already notorious scene sees Romney ironing a shirt while still wearing it'

Charlie Lyne

08, Feb, 2014 @6:00 AM

Article image
Maniac Cop, out this week on DVD & Blu-ray

'Maniac Cop serves as an extraordinary reminder of the artistry that was once invested in trash'

Charlie Lyne

28, Jun, 2014 @5:00 AM

Article image
The Fifth Estate: out this week on Blu-ray
"It's a sad indictment of The Fifth Estate that it proves most convincing when its central figure breaks the fourth wall"

Charlie Lyne

22, Feb, 2014 @6:01 AM

Article image
Computer Chess, out this week on Blu-ray & DVD

'Man and machine do battle in Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess, but only in the least dramatic context imaginable: a 1980s tech convention'

Charlie Lyne

25, Jan, 2014 @6:00 AM

Article image
Drinking Buddies, out this week on Blu-ray and DVD

'Ultra-low budgets and a decidedly fugly aesthetic have rendered his body of work an unappealing prospect to UK distributors'

Charlie Lyne

15, Mar, 2014 @6:00 AM

Article image
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, out this week on Blu-ray and DVD

'Bad Grandpa became the first narrative feature to include a documentary flashback sequence in which its protagonist sucks off an anthropomorphic fish'

Charlie Lyne

08, Mar, 2014 @6:00 AM

Article image
This week's DVD and Blu-ray

Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies | GG Allin: (Un)Censored – Live 1993

Charlie Lyne

10, May, 2014 @5:00 AM

Article image
GBF, out this week on DVD & Blu-ray

'It's an obnoxiously camp DayGlo assault of a movie, every second of its runtime deep-fried in double entendre'

Charlie Lyne

19, Apr, 2014 @5:00 AM

Article image
Noah, out this week on DVD & Blu-ray
‘Lerman’s performance transforms Noah into a quintessential teen angst drama on a previously unimaginable scale’

Charlie Lyne

02, Aug, 2014 @5:00 AM

Article image
Delivery Man, out this week on Blu-ray & DVD

Vince Vaughn plays David Wozniak, a middle-aged lackey who's stunned to discover he has unknowingly fathered 533 children

Charlie Lyne

14, Jun, 2014 @5:00 AM