F1 The Movie
It's the racing scenes that shine throughout the two-and-a-half-hour runtime of "F1," and thankfully the other stuff isn't too bad either, even if it falls into predictable patterns of melodrama. Brad Pitt is perfectly cast as Sonny Hayes, a grizzled racer who lost his shot at glory after a horrific accident in his youth and is now forever chasing that invincible feeling that has been missing from his life for decades. After stints as a gambler and a taxi cab driver, he wanders the country in an old van, racing in whatever obscure race comes his way, until brought out of retirement by his old rival Ruben (Javier Bardem) who needs a complete miracle to keep control over his struggling Formula One team. As part of the deal, Sonny must mentor the young, image-obsessed hotshot Joshua "Noah" Pierce (Damson Idris), and the pair are told that one of them must win one of the remaining handful of races in the season, or the company will be sold.
The story beats are certainly familiar, and you'd be forgiven for thinking Kosinski took his script for the massively successful "Top Gun: Maverick" and just substituted cars for planes. The similarities are hard to ignore: both movies feature a weathered but supremely talented veteran, called back one more time to save the day against impossible odds. Both movies forgo having an actual villain ("F1" barely even mentions any of the other racers) and instead choose to focus on the relationship between the veteran and the reluctant but slowly-won-over protégé. Both movies pair the lead with a strong and beautiful woman (in this case, Kerry Condon) who is tough as nails and has been taking care of herself for years, but just can't help but be immediately overcome by the charms of our aging hero. Both movies hit that same crowd-pleasing tone, using powerful machines and fist-pumping action to activate our lizard brains. It's a formula that clearly works, but it's one you can actively feel working at many times throughout "F1", and you'd think that this would be the last time Kosinksi can go back to this particular well.
Pitt is squarely in his comfort zone with a character like Sonny, the charm of his movie-star looks not at all diminished by the increase of lines in his face. He can play a cocky, no-rules cowboy in his sleep, all while nailing the quiet moments of vulnerability that make us root for his character to win, even when he's generally being an asshole. Sonny and his journey are the perfect dadcore fantasy, as he recaptures the glory days of youth and proves that there is still plenty of gas left in his tank, all while driving the fastest cars and getting the girl in the end.
The racing sequences are peppered with extensive voiceover commentary, a choice that may annoy diehard racing fans but prove helpful for those (like me) who don't follow the sport and need to be told that racing is a lot more complicated than just driving in circles. It's a device that isn't "realistic" but is probably necessary, although it would be interesting to see how the movie would come across without it. It's just one of those things that is needed to make the movie accessible to a mass audience. Hopefully there are enough racing Easter eggs to please the longtime fans; I recognized when some of them appeared even if I didn't know what they were.
In the end, it's all about the spectacle. The camera is often either close on Pitt's face in the cockpit (he's really in there!) or giving POV, video-game shots to make it feel like the audience is at the wheel, at one point even splitting the screen to provide two POVs, in a move that brings to mind racing against your friend in an arcade game. Kosinksi does his best to give the inevitable conclusion some kind of emotional weight, blaring the appropriately epic Hans Zimmer score as the camera flies between the various crew members giving their best emotive facial expressions. But really, everyone watching already knew how this was going to end. It's an anticlimax that Kosinski is betting will be softened by the pulse-pounding action that came before it, and for many, that will be the case. It's a summer blockbuster in the truest sense, as big and loud as it gets, begging to be seen on the largest screen possible, with the smallest amount of brainpower necessary.
