F1

Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) and Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) compete for glory in F1 (Distributed by Warner Bros.)

The vast majority of sports movies follow the same very simple formula. I won’t describe it so as not to spoil the racing drama F1 (the “F” literally stands for formula), but nobody watching it will be the least bit surprised by anything that happens during its significantly longer than necessary 148-minute runtime (not including the end credits). Even though it does everything you expect, and nothing you don’t, it still kind of works due to some well-filmed racing action and the always welcome charisma of Brad Pitt.

The story is all the usual clichés, the characters are stereotypes and the pacing definitely makes this feel its length. However, when those cars are flying dangerously around corners and everything these men have worked their whole lives for is on the line, the movie clicks. Nothing matters in those moments except for speed, determination and strategy. Those sequences are thrilling, with performances matching the intensity. All the rest feels like the filmmakers spinning their wheels until the next race starts.

Sonny Hayes was a phenom whose recklessness took him from future legend to cautionary tale in seconds. Thirty years later, he’s a nomad, roaming between leagues and teams, doing his thing before moving on to another challenge. When an old friend begs Sonny to help him salvage his Formula One team’s abysmal season, Sonny gets his big shot at redemption.

Would it surprise you if I said that his friend needs Sonny to turn the team around immediately or it could be sold out from under him? Or that the team’s lead driver is a young hotshot who needs to learn what it means to be part of a team? That first they hate each other, before coming to respect one another? No, I am sure it would not. F1 marches to the beat of the same drummer everyone else uses.

The screenplay is paint-by-numbers. The emotions are just a plot device. As a drama, predictable is an understatement. Sonny, his friend, Ruben, his teammate/rival Joshua, Kate, the tech Sonny instantly gets a crush on, etc.; Not a single one of them comes off as more than a cardboard cutout. The actors are good, yet they aren’t miracle workers. It is almost like the filmmakers aren’t trying, but then the actors get into their cars and the production comes alive.

Though I could not possibly care less about auto racing, F1 puts it on display with a visceral passion. While there was nothing even remotely interesting about Sonny trying to prove that he’s still useful or Joshua trying to get himself noticed, the immediacy of what they are attempting to do on the track is pretty engaging. The gamesmanship, frustration, plotting and risk-taking is entertaining. Each race has its own mini-story and suspense. If the entire movie was just a series of races, this could’ve been really good.

Director Joseph Kosinski proved his skill at crafting action with Top Gun: Maverick. It is a different type of action here, less explosive, more cerebral; yet it is equally impressive. If only he could have done away with the half-assed story and focused completely on that.

F1 is, at its core, a big, bloated, summer crowd-pleaser. Joining all of the other big, bloated movies coming out over the next two months. It does one thing great and everything else not well. Overall, I’ll call it okay. I am glad I saw it on a massive IMAX screen, to get the full effect. But it isn’t anything I’d be excited to watch again.

3 out of 5

Cast:

Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes

Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce

Javier Bardem as Ruben Cervantes

Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna

Tobias Menzies as Peter Banning

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Screenplay by Ehren Kruger