RUSH Rated:R

Cat Says:

I remember, as a kid, my dad loving Mario Andretti. I even remember the accident that set Niki Lauda on fire. But, honestly, I didn't remember how that season ended up. Knowing I wanted to go see this movie I made the decision not to go look the result up. I'm very glad I did that. 

Quickly, this film is about the 1976 Formula 1 racing season and the two drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, who were in the top two spots the entire season. In Days of Thunder they focused on the personal story the most and then there were a few racing scenes. As much as I love that film I was really hoping for a bit more of a balance between the personal story and the racing story of these two men. Happily I can say that the balance is perfect.

The film begins with both men entering the racing scene and how they moved up the ranks. Neither guy is perfect. Lauda is nicknamed The Rat. Part of this is for his looks and part is for his demeanor. He's not the kindest or most emotional guy in the world. Daniel Bruhel is perfection in this role. You do get to see the chinks in the armor of this man. You see how he lived his life, how he fell in love and found out what life is all about. You also get to see his fierce determination and how that made him into a world class jerk as well as a world class driver. Hunt is a playboy.  Played perfectly by Chris Hemsworth (yes, the guy from Thor) he is portrayed as a womanizer, a "live every day as if it were you last" kind of guy. Live wild, live crazy, drive yourself harder than you drive your car and, if it ends, then it ends and what a wild ride it was. He's handsome, charming and, basically a real jerk. But, as the movie progresses, you get to see how he finds out who he is, why he does what he does and how he comes to deeply appreciate the relationship he and Lauda find themselves in as the years go by. 

The racing scenes are intense. The accidents are graphic and are meant to be disturbing. There is sex, drug use and a big party scene that add to the fact that this film isn't for kids. Older teens who are into cars or racing could love it but I would say it's not appropriate for 15 and under. We really loved this film and I can not say one bad thing about it. It gets a rare 10 out of 10 from me. One of those I would have gladly just stayed in my seat to watch again. No surprise that Ron Howard is at the helm on this one. It is a racing masterpiece.

Instructions Not Included Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says:

Instructions Not Included is this years sleeper movie. Right off let me say that out of 10 we gave it an 11. Several reasons for that high a mark.  It did something very few movies can do with me..surprised me.  I read a LOT and see a lot of movies.  So plots are something I can figure out pretty quick.  It does not mean I then do not enjoy the movie it just means I can guess where it is going and how it will end. It starts off in Mexico with a free living ,free loving guy who has no plans to ever be anything else. We learn how and why he got that way.  But one day his door bell rings and he is handed a baby and asked for 10.00 to pay the cabbie by the mother, who does not come back to collect the baby.   He learns the old girlfriend has gone to Los Angeles and  he takes off after her to give the baby back. Well, things do not go as he plans...at all.  He ends up raising her and taking a stunt job to care for her.  This movie is very funny and sweet and caring. But it is heart breaking when mom shows up after 6 years to collect her daughter.    The father, played by Mexican actor Eugenio Derbezhas, to fight for her in court and the daughter played by Jessica Lindsey is in awe of having a mother so the fight is a hard one.  But there is a twist that I will not even hint at because it makes this movie what it is..a heart breaker and a box of tissues kind.  The people we passed as we left were all talking about how much they had liked it. My friend said she had to fight not to start sobbing and I agreed.   This is a movie I could go right back tomorrow and watch again even though I know the ending, which believe me, is not what you think. So make the time to go see this movie which is of course in both Spanish (with sub-titles) and in English. The sub-titles were nice in that they are big enough to read easily. I will long remember this one.

Cat Says:

Living where we do we don't get a lot of "Indies" much less foreign films. I'm one of those who don't mind subtitles and a great deal of this movie is in subtitles but takes place in California. The story is a sweet, if contrived, story of a playboy who gets saddled with a baby and ends up trying to raise her himself. Of course the mother returns to muck things up a bit but by the end of the movie that is resolved.

Now let me tell you what is good about this movie. I loved the message of it. The idea that you may not be ready to be a parent and it's an on the job training situation but that you can be a great parent if you commit yourself to it. 99% of the movie is fun, hysterically funny, touching, sweet and wonderful. It's the 1% that will mean I will never watch it again. Up till the very last 2 minutes of the movie I was all set to give this a 9. But the last 2 minutes dropped it to a 7. If you don't mind bad endings, sad endings, truly downer endings then this movie is very much worth watching. If not then skip this one or watch it when you are already in a heartbreaking mood and needing a good cry.

SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ FARTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE END!

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You go on this wonderful journey with this man from the dropping of the baby on his doorstep to his daughters mother coming back and wanting a relationship, his court battle to keep his daughter only to have her die in the last 2 minutes. That's right...they kill of the child! Apparently she had an issue in her brain that meant she could slip into a coma or die at any moment. The idea is that they are adding the message that no matter how short of a time you have someone you love in your life that it is worth the loving. This is supposed to be the "real life" touch for a movie that was anything but real life based. For me, personally, I have enough real life and real life loss...I don't need to go to the movies to see that.