In 2022, director Joseph Kosinski helmed Top Gun: Maverick. The legacy sequel was one of the best films of that year, and now Kosinski is back with another summer blockbuster. F1: The Movie takes what we expect from a sports drama and wraps it in exciting visuals. And, for the most part, the talented cast knows how to make their characters a thrilling part of the action.
The story of F1 focuses on Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt). He’s a veteran racer, but he’s also brash and doesn’t stick around long in one job. His old teammate, Ruben (Javier Bardem), asks Sonny to join his Formula 1 team. Ruben’s team, APXGP (also called Apex), is in last place, and the board will sell the team out from under him if they don’t start winning. Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) is the team’s other driver. He is talented but he’s young and cocky. Ruben hopes their mix of styles will help the team move up in the rankings, and there are nine more races in the F1 season to accomplish that.
The drama of the underdog sports story is in good hands with Kosinski in F1: The Movie. The visuals are thrilling, and while the script may have its flaws, the film knows the emotional beats a story like this should have and delivers them. You don’t have to be a racing fan to enjoy it.
MORE: Check out the trailer for F1: The Movie!
“Hope is not a strategy.”
Sonny’s attitude and ability are established from the start. In the opening sequence, we see him drive part of a relay race at Daytona. (Who knew they did relays in car racing?) He gets his team the lead and they win. And he doesn’t stay to celebrate. He moves on while the fireworks are still lighting up the sky.
He takes his pay and leaves. We learn later that this is his pattern, and it has been ever since a crash pushed him out of Formula 1 racing decades earlier. He’s done most other kinds of racing since then, even driven a cab, but he hasn’t raced F1 again.
Now, Ruben needs him. Sonny doesn’t agree at first but he does go to help his friend, and Sonny uses his experience to help Apex advance its position. But I wish Sonny had more of a character arc. I like his romantic interactions with the team technical director, Kate (Kerry Condon).
And his relationship with Joshua evolves nicely. These are the kinds of things that usually happen in plots like this, and they’re entertaining. But Sonny is pretty much the same character at the end of the film as he was at the beginning. If he were a more dynamic character, it would have made Apex’s satisfying win at the end of the film that much better.
MORE: We have more things to say about Simone Ashley being cut from F1: The Movie.
“You spend your life starting over.”
Similarly, Kosinski’s direction elevates the storytelling here. We are all familiar with the plot points we’re going to see in this film. Sonny and Joshua will butt heads. Sonny will bend the rules but get results. There will be at least one crash that sets the team back. But Kosinski’s work wraps all this up in good staging and engaging camera work. Especially the racing scenes.
These sequences are wonderful. The use of the camera in these shots is varied and fresh. Whether the camera is attached to the car, placed in the driver’s seat, or on a crane to capture all the action on the track, the visuals succeed. The fact that Kosinski filmed at actual F1 events probably helped with this. However, there’s no doubt that this is one area of the film that excels.
Kosinski did drop the ball in at least one respect, though. The talented Simone Ashley was cast in the movie (in the small role of Joshua’s girlfriend, I believe) but she has been cut out of the final film. She still appears in one shot without any lines. And she’s listed as “Self” in the credits. What is THAT? Yes, at over 2 and a half hours, I know this film is already long enough. But more screen time for women, particularly women of color, is always a good thing. Always. This is a shadow that will hang over this film from now on.
Besides that, though, Oscar winners and nominees like Condon and Bardem really make their presence felt. And while Joshua could’ve been a stock character, Idris makes him likeable and charming. While you’re enjoying them, and then a fun sports drama moment happens, like Queen’s “We Will Rock You” plays on the soundtrack, that’s when F1: The Movie works. The story is decent and the direction is superb. It’s a worthwhile summer blockbuster.
F1: The Movie is now playing in theaters from Warner Brothers and Apple Films.
MORE: Take a look at Simone Ashley’s gracious Instagram supporting F1: The Movie.
