When it comes to the summer blockbuster, no one comes to them for the plot. It’s all about thrills and chills, how big can you go and how long you can keep people as entertained as possible. “F1: The Movie” is a frustrating experience because on the entertainment front, it delivers in just about every single way you would want from a “car go fast vroom vroom” racing film. But even for a predictable underdog sports drama, “F1” is a mess. Packed with lackluster characters and a checklist of cliches, it is held together only by its innovative and engrossing race sequences.
When the tires are on the track, “F1” soars with visual mastery and pulse pounding action. But when it spends a majority of its overly long runtime outside of the race, it slams on the brakes hard and comes to a screeching halt.
“F1” functions like a the less successful, distant cousin of “Top Gun: Maverick,” borrowing large swaths of the legacy sequel blueprint to achieve similarly stunning action but lacking the charisma and character intrigue of its source material. It wants to be every underdog sports movie at once and suffers for it, delivering a messy and mostly uninteresting collection of characters and story beats that only come alive when the race is on. At 2+ hours and more than one false ending, the juxtaposition of pure adrenaline racing against everything else becomes increasingly felt as the minutes tick by. You’ve seen plenty of iterations of this story, so you probably don’t need me to rehash the plot synopsis. Stop me if this sounds familiar: washed up never was racer Sonny Hayes comes to a failing F1 racing team to shake things up, save the organization and make one last run at greatness, and is confronted and clashes with a young, egocentric driver on the verge of superstardom. Throw in a little corporate espionage and a love interest and you’ve got this movie.
To its successes, Joseph Kosinski continues to prove his prowess behind the camera. Like his previous work, Kosinski continues to push the limits of what filmmaking can do and what the camera can capture. He brings racing to life in ways I don’t think anyone thought possible, with “F1” placing the camera in an almost 360 degree view, brilliantly edited by Stephen Mirrione. Inside the car, outside the car, POV perspectives, driver focused shots, wide shots that make you feel like you’re going to 200+ miles per hour and more all create an edge of your seat thrill ride serving as a mind blowing, visual feast – what blockbusters are made of. This is when the film is at its best and most interesting, and while there’s plenty of time spent not burning rubber there are at least 12 racing sequences scattered throughout the film. That’s enough to take anyone on a ride worth taking, and when it’s is taking us on a journey at top speeds, it is pure escapism in the best of ways.
Brad Pitt cares about as much as we do about anything that isn’t about the race, delivering one of his most one note, least charming performances to date. He’s said in interviews that he was dialed in for the races and racing which he found fascinating and not so much about the non-racing acting sequences. It is noticeable in “F1,” with Pitt phoning it in until he puts the helmet on, gets in the car and comes alive. He is quite literally the embodiment of the film’s strengths and weakness, and the character of Sonny Hayes serving as a sort of metatextual commentary on Pitt’s own career and place in modern Hollywood. He’s capable of a lot more, and with a film so “Top Gun: Maverick” coded it needs its star to be way more dialed in all around to be as successful. Everyone else is relegated to tropes and needless subplots, including Kerry Condon, Damson Idris, and Javier Bardem. Of the three, Bardem is the one that feels the most comfortable. “F1” lets him do what he does best, which is show up as a side character and chew through scenery with a funny, sometimes serious over the top performance.
For Condon, “F1” lets her finally speak in her own accent which is nice but ultimately can’t decide what to do with her. Idris is fine but his relationship and chemistry with Pitt is never explored enough to justify their old dog vs new pup dynamics. That’s not a fault of Idris – he’s only doing the best he can with what he’s given. And when you’re megastar constantly has his mind on getting back in the car every time the two of them are suppose to develop their relationship, “F1” isn’t giving him enough to elevate his character. It becomes increasingly clear that Kosinski isn’t concerned with the sports drama aspect of things, and the script co-written with Ehren Kruger (“Top Gun: Maverick“) operates under obligation rather than anything meaningful. We HAVE to hit these plot points, so let’s get through this quickly so we can some more cool shit with our race cars.
Look, “F1: The Movie” is messy as hell and a lesser uninspired version of better, more inspired works. It is both boring and thrilling at the same time, and while I could do without a large portion of the film, the craft and execution of the action is something to be admired, even championed. It is a tried and true blockbuster, packed with all of the successes and flaws that come with that. And while many of those issues were pretty glaring to me, count me in for anything Kosinski wants to make. No one does high crafted, innovated spectacle like him, and if he wants to keep pushing the limits of what cameras can do and putting us in fighter jets and race cars, I’ll watch a million of these flicks with him at the helm. The astounding action is good enough to forgive its shortcomings. Not all of them, but most – and that’s better than most films can hope for these days.
It’s peak “dudes rock” cinema, and there’s always a place in my heart for those films even when they’re deeply flawed. Yes, it *is* fully TNT coded, and is sure to be your dad’s new favorite movie on a Sunday afternoon.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
“F1: The Movie” is now playing in theaters. You can watch the trailer below.
