F1 – The BRWC Review. By Daniel Rester
Much of the same team behind the box office mega-hit Top Gun: Maverick (2022) is back with F1, including director Joseph Kosinski, screenwriter Ehren Kruger, and cinematographer Claudio Miranda. They move from the sky to the racetrack to deliver another old-school summer blockbuster with a handsome movie star at its center. While F1 doesn’t reach the heights of Maverick, it offers plenty of thrills as Kosinki’s team captures Formula One racing with care and attention.
Brad Pitt stars as Sonny Hayes, an aging racer-for-hire who was once seen as the next big thing before some setbacks. He is asked by friend and APXGP owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) to come drive for his team in Formula One. The team has a hotshot young driver in Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), but success has been hard to come by. Ruben believes Sonny can turn things around for the team once he joins Joshua on the track.
After Sonny does join them, APXGP has to deal with Sonny and Joshua butting heads, technical issues with the race cars, and Sonny’s occasionally dangerous racing style. The technical director for the team, Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), also becomes a love interest for Sonny, which she tries to resist. On top of all of this, Ruben is told that investors may sell the team if they do not succeed enough by the end of the season.
F1 runs on, well, pure formula. Most of its plot beats can be seen coming from miles away. The character relationships are also obvious, from the rivalry-to-respect one between Sonny and Joshua, the undercooked romance between Sonny and Kate, and the courting of Sonny by a slimy board member who wants to see the team fail. Kruger’s script is never terrible as it has its share of exciting, emotional, and funny scenes, but little of it actually feels inspired or fresh.
The screenplay does have one great scene though, which involves three characters playing poker. It is a highlight of the film as its delivers wit, subtly, and depth within the writing. In a film full of grand races, it almost feels strange that a small scene involving cards stands out.
Some of the flashy editing and pop songs on the soundtrack make a few racing sections of F1 feel like music videos. Most of the time, however, the race scenes are exciting and even nail-biting technical feats. Kosinski stages them in a grand fashion while Miranda captures seemingly every corner of the tracks and cars with the cameras. From massive wide shots showing fireworks to POV shots inside of helmets, F1 contains variety in its visual approach.
Pitt is still a movie star with a capital M and could play a cool character like Sonny in his sleep. He and Idris have strong chemistry as Sonny and Joshua learn to work together. The same can’t be said of Pitt and Condon though. Both of them are very good individually here, but their romantic scenes feel forced as the chemistry isn’t there.
F1 starts to feel bloated and repetitive at a certain point as the film runs for 156 minutes. It’s a fun ride though, containing plenty of blockbuster thrills due to its exceptional visual and sound design. The storytelling takes multiple obvious turns, but the formula is executed with extreme skill.
Rating: 7.75/10
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