Rush (English 2013)

It will be quite easy to list down the things that Ron Howard did wrong with RUSH.  A full day of research after being swept away by RUSH, I could find 5 mistakes. Nothing more

1. An F1 Car doesn’t fly over a hill when it is trying to catch up especially when it is a driver as safe as Niki Lauda
2. Not sure if Hunt beat up a reporter for asking Lauda a question about his wife accepting him after half his face had burnt off
3. Nürburgring was not known as the Graveyard.  It was called Green Hell.
4. Howard has chosen not to cover the aspect that Hunt & Lauda were friends who actually stayed together when in London.
5. The penalty to Hunt for the Brands Hatch race resulting in disqualification wasn’t covered.  This was actually a very pivotal point in the season.

Angels and Demons

Most people in Hollywood state that if there was a contest for the most effective combinations between director and actor – Ron Howard with Tom Hanks would be right up there with the best.  They had 2 movies under their belt before Angels and Demons.  The Da Vinci Code & that classic called Apollo 13.  Both extremely well made.

The Da Vinci Code

What can you get when you get together 3 people – one who has been widely regarded as the top 10 directors of all time if not the top 10. Another who is responsible for giving us one of the biggest block buster novels of the previous decade – probably the #1 bestseller other than the Harry Potter series and definitely THE most controversial of the lot. And the third who has been regarded by most people as one of the best actors ever to be born – one who is known for his “boy next door” looks and yet regarded as capable of taking up any role that is possible (I would like to see him play a villain though – haven’t seen that yet but I am certain he can and will give us the pleasure of that sooner than later). Well what you get is one of the best adaptations of a book into a movie – I would like to stick my neck out at this stage and call it the best after The Godfather and The Adventures of Tintin – Secret of the Unicorn.
Ron Howard would have been extremely challenged at the thought of directing The Da Vinci Code for certain but he smartly roped in Tom Hanks who is known to be an actor who eases the stress out from the director’s head immensely. And they had the support of Dan Brown to try and get this to life. The way Dan Brown has layered the book and keeps peeling it out like an onion is something which can be very difficult to get alive on the silver screen. I can only say that the team that created the movie should be really proud of what they got out eventually.

I cannot think of any scene that was badly executed or any aspect that was missed out from the book. Difficult sequences such as the point where Sophie (Audrey Tatou) and Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) figure out that a pope actually stands for Alexander Pope and the walk to Newton’s Tomb is superimposed with that of the actual funeral of Sir Isaac Newton. Or the casting for Silas (Paul Bettany) which is impeccable. But nearly not as impeccable as Bishop Aringarosa played by someone who I consider is probably more versatile (if there is something like that) that any other actor who I have seen till date – Alfred Molina. Time and again Alfred Molina has stunned the daylights out of me in the way that he gets into his character and makes you believe that the character in the book was created specifically with Molina in mind – simply scintillating I say.

True to the book as they say, The Da Vinci Code is a great movie to watch any given Sunday. It is edited well, has great cinematography, good solid performances and has a story that is great (apart from the ending where Dan Brown always screws up :p). You can watch it even if you haven’t read the book. 7 on 10 is what I say.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2369847833/