Hardcore motor sport and Formula 1 fans became more than just passively interested in the nominations called out last month by the Academy Awards for this year's ceremony. That was down to 'Rush'; director Ron Howard's thrilling biopic about the battle for the F1 championship of 1976.
The movie had picked up two nominations at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony for the best dramatic picture of 2013 while Germany's Daniel Bruhl was nominated for the award of best supporting actor in a dramatic film.
DISSAPOINTMENT
Ultimately 'Rush' didn't win in either category but was still considered to be a lock for nominations for the Oscars as well but was snubbed completely. Not even a nomination in any technical categories like special effects, sound editing or for its score, which had been prepared by the composer for Christopher Nolan's Batman film trilogy as well as last summer's hit Superman reboot 'Man of Steel'.
The Oscars have had their own history of some baffling snubs and inclusions as well. Last year, for instance, Ben Affleck was not even nominated for his direction of 'Argo', despite winning the award for best director at every other award show preceding the Oscars.
It wasn't as if the movie had not been well received by professional critics (who don't always get it right, but did so for 'Rush') as well as Internet movie geeks who enjoy rating and reviewing movies on their own.
According to the popular review aggregator website rottentomatoes.com, 89 percent of the 207 critics who reviewed the movie, gave it a positive rating while 92 percent of the site's readers thought it to be positive. To put that into perspective, Martin Scorsese's ode to Wall Street debauchery and dishonesty, 'The Wolf of Wall Street', was given a positive review by 77 percent of the 224 critics who reviewed it while 83 percent of the website's users gave it a positive review.
And yet it received five Oscar nominations, despite garnering only two nominations at the Golden Globe Awards, like 'Rush', where the movie's lead actor - Leonardo Di Caprio - won an award for best performance by an actor in a musical or comedy.
The website for the more dedicated cinephiles, imdb.com, has Scorcese's three hour film rated higher than 'Rush', but not by much; an 8.3 rating out of 10 as compared to an 8.6 for 'Wolf of Wall Street'.
WHY THE DISCREPANCY?
A reason for the discrepancy between the two award shows could have to do with the difference between the make up of the respective juries. The Golden Globes are organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, while the Oscars are the responsibility of America's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Given that 'Rush' managed to collect just under 23 million dollars in box office receipts in America (compared to 104.7 million and counting for 'Wolf') it's probably not surprising it didn't generate much of a pulse in a country that F1's own commercial bosses have been trying to conquer in the popularity stakes.
And while 'Rush' deals with a subject matter that is intriguing enough for F1 history buffs, it's not exactly appealing to people in general. The rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt is something you would expect an F1 fan who has followed the sport for a while to know about. Drawing ordinary people in would be a challenge even with a big name Hollywood actor like Chris Hemsworth, famous for playing the superhero Thor and who plays Hunt in the movie.
Not to mention, 'Rush' had two other things working against it in America. It was set in the 1970s, and age restricted for most audiences who were under 18 years of age. To put that into perspective, Sylvester Stallone's disastrously bad Indycar movie 'Driven' was rated PG-13 when released in 2001 and was set in contemporary times. And when adjusted for ticket price inflation, it was almost twice as successful in the States as 'Rush'.
F1 ON FILM BEFORE 'RUSH'
The argument of 'Rush' being set primarily outside of the United States doesn't hold much water either as the last film about F1 - John Frankenheimer's 1966 classic 'Grand Prix' - didn't shoot in America either, was nearly three hours long but made 20.9 million dollars just in America from a 9 million dollar budget (data available on imdb.com).
Adjust that for inflation and the figure comes out to an astounding 143.8 million dollars, just in America. That too from a budget that would amount to 64 million in today's money.
It has been the incorrect assumption of some that 'Grand Prix' was a commercial flop, which is clearly not the case. The success of the fictional tale of drivers battling for the 1966 F1 championship came down to the revolutionary on board footage, some cliched but thrilling racing sequences and a fairly believable off-track story between the characters too.
That it was set in contemporary times and had one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the time starring in it - James Garner - didn't hurt either.
The film was a critical success too and won in all three technical categories for which it was nominated in at the 1967 Oscars.
LIMITING FACTORS
In contrast, 'Rush' was superbly acted, fairly well explained the technical details of F1 at the time and was a terrific character study of two of its greatest champions.
However, the film did linger a little too much on the subject of Hunt's excessive drinking, partying and womanizing, to the extent that things got a little too graphic at times. It may very well be something that would appeal to a certain set of F1's viewing demographic, but not really to the young teenagers who predominantly get interested in it because of its on-track battles and the speed and technology of the cars.
The sideshow of parties, women and glamour is not the real show and definitely doesn't stick in one's mind when you talk of climactic duels between drivers even in contemporary times. Just think back, for instance, to 2008's final race in Brazil or even the four-way fight for the 2010 championship.
By contrast, 'Wolf of Wall Street' is all about greed in America's financial capital, which pretty much runs on greed, so depictions of wild parties and irresponsible behaviour has kept audiences coming back to Scorcese and Di Caprio's latest offering - while forgetting the damage caused by the film's subject matter it seems, but that is another story.
We turn to sports pages and watch sports like F1 to forget about such things even though F1's own commerical rights holder is proof that greed and 'masala' exists in F1 too - although he will now be standing trial for his wheeling and dealing.
Hopefully F1 will, one day get another movie set in contemporary times like 'Grand Prix'. One that is relevant not just to a certain set of its fans but that will draw in new ones too by breaking down its complexities, constant evolution and most importantly the human element behind the steering wheel.
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