“Do they have the car?!”
“We have the driver.”
Those are the climatic words of F1, reminiscent of a similar declaration in one of the decade’s most impactful films, Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Not at all a coincidence, as the two films share a director (Joseph Kosinski), as well as screenwriters (Kosinski, Ehren Kruger). In both films, Kosinski posits an old adage that the skill set of the man behind the machine is more important than the machine itself. In Maverick, Tom Cruise goes on a redemptive journey where his incredible talent and acumen is able to overcome his personal follies, shortcomings, and wasted potential. In F1 (or F1: The Movie if you’re a marketing loyalist), Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes (LOL!), an almost-was whose incredible talent and acumen is able to overcome his personal follies, shortcomings, and wasted potential. So we can see why Kosinski was tapped for this job after helming Top Gun.
The familiarity of the film’s plot doesn’t stop at the main character, but F1 isn’t exactly a Xerox copy of Maverick, so much as its central plot and litany of cliches and archetypes feel like it’s a screenplay plucked out of 1993. But those older ideas are carried to the finish line by way of a fresh paint job of fantastic special effects, stunts, and camerawork. In many ways, it’s the movie Gran Turismo (2023) wishes it was, even if it still maintains its own flaws. The story picks up with Hayes as an incredibly fast, at times reckless, racecar driver, but he’s a mercenary without a home. After a horrific crash and back injury that took away his prime 30 years ago, the modern Sonny is content going from one team to the next, helping squads to win their respective tournaments.
We first find him during the last leg of the 24 Hours of Daytona, in a fiery opening that communicates Sonny’s exceptional skill and erratic style, while offering a bevy of outstanding images to the viewer. Before long, he’s tracked down by an old friend and former peer, the now-retired Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). Ruben owns an F-1 team filled with plucky young racers but is in danger of being removed from the board if he can’t get his poor-performing team out of last place before the season ends. But gosh darnit, if Ole Sonny can teach this squad to button up, race faster/smarter, and use a little elbow grease, then dammit – maybe they can be somebody!! The only problem is the team’s brash rookie (Damson Idris) isn’t used to taking orders, which bumps heads with the equally cocky and independent Sonny.
The draw of F1 is its position as a sports movie, which is good news since it’s a really fun, engaging sports movie. That doesn’t mean the film is without flaws in that regard, namely its loose application of Formula One rules. For the sake of the plot, Sonny is incredibly aggressive and breaks the rules in ways that would likely get him penalized, and potentially banned in a real Formula One setting. In addition, the events’ announcers have to articulate very obvious exposition, to catch newer viewers up on the rules or explain the protagonists’ strategies, in ways that would be superfluous to longtime fans. But if you’re expecting a $200 million movie starring Brad Pitt to be a documentary on the sport, you probably need to get more acquainted with how Hollywood does things. For better or worse, F1 relies on a formula that feels familiar, but it’s also a formula because it works and is efficient Hollywood myth-making.
The opening of the film alone is filled with strong visual storytelling, allowing us to fill in the blanks on Sonny’s past while being wowed by the risks he takes. We even get a glimpse into his angrier temperament when he contemplates using a wrench as a weapon, only to put it away. The racing scenes, as expected, are exhilarating, somehow just the right amount of hectic and cluttered, while showing off the sleekness and speed of the vehicles. There’s a bit of irony in this being a movie produced by Apple TV, despite having no doubts this will look great in 4K on your TV, as it’s a movie made for the big screen experience. Very few words can describe the visual of explosive fireworks flying into the sky at Daytona. Or a weaving POV shot on the track as a driver fights exhaustion to push towards the finish line. It’s a movie that rarely stops moving, consistently showering the audience with propulsive imagery and terrific stunt work.
Where the film stumbles is in its handling of certain characters and their role in the narrative. Idris is intensely charismatic as Joshua Pierce, a rookie with no major accomplishments, but with a ton of talent that has him pegged for greatness by many of the cast. To their credit, Pitt and Idris have very good chemistry, playing their relationship as rivals who have to force smiles and work together through gritted teeth. The younger Joshua is more of a cocky bloke, but they’re both dick heads – it’s just that only one is actually rewarded for it. Whereas Sonny can seemingly do no wrong, Joshua takes one embarrassing L after another. He looks foolish and incompetent in so many scenes that you begin to wonder if the filmmakers even like this character. Sure, he’s a rookie, but one who is consistently hyped due to his supposed talent, yet this hardly ever translates into meaningful performances on the track, as the character seems more like a device for Sonny to look great against in contrast.
Just as troubling is a completely uninteresting romance that is somehow simultaneously shoehorned into the plot, but said shoehorn is seen coming a mile away. Kerry Condon gives a pretty energetic and likable performance (replete with one of the thickest Irish accents in film history) as the team’s technical director. But her arc in that role is overshadowed by the need to pair her with Sonny and validate the magnetism of the film’s macho star. It serves Sonny Hayes, but it doesn’t serve the plot or enrich it with any interesting subplots. So what you have is a movie made up of old and new parts. The visual effects are certainly state-of-the-art, but the plot itself looks like tattered hand-me-downs. Pitt was born to play this role – for better or worse. He IS Sonny Hayes, a gigantic star who mesmerizes those around him but is also subject to inner demons and regrettable personal decisions that have wrecked his family life. Consider it stunt casting in the vein of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, where the parallels and meta-commentary between actor and character are so heavily felt that we might as well be breaking the 4th wall.
I think F1 is a good film hampered by an average script, but most viewers will enjoy the movie. The performances are fantastic, the aforementioned actors all turning in great work, with an assist to Sarah Niles as Joshua’s mother, who brings an additional layer of humor along with credibility in the more dramatic scenes. The visual expertise on display takes us to many exciting places, but the story rarely gives us exciting thoughts. There’s deep trauma to explore with a character like Hayes, but the movie is uninterested in challenging his perspectives or causing him to change, lest Brad Pitt not look like the coolest dude even for a second. It’s a cool movie that trades in vulnerability and intelligent character growth for even more coolness – because we apparently didn’t have enough. And Sonny Hayes looks very cool in it, but he’s often the only one who does, at the expense of every other character who would like to do something memorable.
