We all know that Chris Hemsworth can do the handsome, charming and charismatic thing in his sleep, but when he put those natural talents to use in a straightforward drama instead of an effects-heavy blockbuster, it resulted in arguably the best performance of his entire career.
Ron Howard’s Rush traces the long-running rivalry between Formula 1 racing nemeses and polar opposites James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The former is a hard-drinking, wild-partying playboy, while the latter is a meticulous and much more reserved presence. Sparks fly in more ways than one as they battle for supremacy throughout the 1970s, but there’s a severe physical, mental and psychological price to be paid as well.
It’s one of the most purely thrilling films Howard has ever directed, and Daniel Brühl found himself nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actor category, while Rush made the shortlist for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Chris Hemsworth was shut out, unfortunately, but he still delivers a brilliant turn as Hunt, who bursts into the movie like a force of nature before slowly being humanized over the course of the narrative.
It was a decent-sized box office success after earning just under $100 million on a $38 million budget, and reviews were overwhelmingly enthusiastic, with Rush holding an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 88%. It’s now part of the Netflix library as of today, and it’ll no doubt draw in a big audience given the leading man’s residual popularity as both the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thor and the star of the platform’s most-watched original movie ever, so we definitely expect the fantastic Rush to speed its way up the most-watched list over the coming days.
