As for the performances, Hemsworth with his blonde hair and dashing swagger portrays James Hunt as the flamboyant racer to the hilt. His retching before every race is needlessly dramatised. He gains the audience's sympathy in the scene where, after the press conference, filled with remorse and guilt; he bashes a journalist, who puts forth an absurd question to Lauda.
He clinches this scene with his brilliant performance, immediately raising him several notches in the eyes of the audience.
On the other hand, Bruhl as the rough, hard-headed Lauda is initially repulsive, but over time with his complex and moving performance, he is likable. By the end, you begin to understand him.
Both the ladies have nothing much to do in the film. Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller, the model wife of Hunt and Alexandra Maria Lara as Marlene Lauda, are wasted as the director has not explored the personal lives of the racers in detail.
