Directed by Ron Howard. Starring Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth. Rated 14A.

What’s the dirty little secret behind movies about auto-racing? Most of them underperform at the box office because—for many of us, at least—watching cars drone around in a circle is the cinematic equivalent of taking a sleeping pill. Odds are, though, that Ron Howard’s Rush—a fact-based story that re-creates the intense rivalry between top Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda—will buck the trend. Set in 1976, it’s a giddy celebration of long hair, tight pants, and huge egos. Best of all, you don’t have to be into squealing tires to appreciate it.

Not that racing fans won’t enjoy the ride. For sheer atmosphere, Rush contains some of the most authentic action sequences since Steve McQueen’s Le Mans. It’s simply that Howard is smart enough to know that the heart of his story lies away from the track.

What we ultimately get is a fascinating character study that focuses on two very different personalities: England’s Hunt (Chris Hemsworth), a fun-loving playboy who enjoys burning the candle at both ends, and Austria’s Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), a strict disciplinarian who is baffled by Hunt’s carefree attitude.

Screenwriter Peter Morgan—who collaborated with Howard on 2008’s Frost/Nixon—delights in cranking up the animosity between the two drivers. Although highly competitive, they were actually friendlier than his script indicates. Still, it’s great fun watching as Morgan accentuates their contrasting natures. Hunt deals with the pressures of the sport by sleeping with a parade of willing women, while the stoic Lauda warns his fiancée that he’s unprepared for the selfless demands of marriage. (“But if I’m going to do it,” he says, “I might as well do it with you.”)

It’s captivating stuff—helped along by the fact that, like everyone else, Hemsworth and Bruhl are perfectly cast. There are plenty of reasons to dislike both of their characters: Hunt is an overgrown boy who takes perverse pride in risking death to defeat his rival; Lauda can be startlingly cold.

Yet by the time we cross the finish line, you can’t help liking them both.