MOVIE REVIEW: F1

 

In the 1990s, Sonny Hayes was Formula 1's most promising driver until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, the owner of a struggling Formula 1 team convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team's hotshot rookie, Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Javier Bardem, Shea Whigham

Release Date: June 27, 2025

Genre: Action, Drama, Sport

Rated PG-13 for strong language, and action.

Runtime: 2h 36m

Review:

Joseph Kosinski's F1 delivers some truly intense and thrilling racing sequences that really put you in the driver's seat which is sure to leave an impression even though the plot is more or less a dramatic take of 1989's Major League.  This is a sleek film that really takes off when it gets the camera inside the cars and we feel the propulsive energy of the motors.  Kosinski pulls off some impressive technical feats by giving the audience a full 360-degree view during the film's energetic racing sequences that leave you feeling every twist and turn of the track in a visceral way.  It would all be even more engaging if the story and characters matched the level of creativity and artistry as the visual but sadly, they prove to be little more than a collection of sports movie clichés.  The characters all fit into nice tidy boxes with their general characteristics and motivations easily related in a brief synopsis.  Brad Pitt is perfectly cast as the weather worn, former golden boy that's brought back to the sport that he'd walked away from decades ago after a tragic failure.  Pitt's natural, earned screen charisma makes his character far more interesting than he would be in a lesser actor's hands.  There are moments where you get the sense, he's digging for more depth to the character whose ultimate motivation seems to be the same as Ricky Bobby's in Talladega Nights.  It’s a testament to him as a true movie star that he can make some of the film's clunkier moments and dialogue palpable with his natural delivery.  Damson Idris is solid as the hotshot rookie who's brash but still intimidated when Pitt's character shows up.  Idris is an incredibly talented performer, anyone who watched his work in 6 seasons of FX's Snowfall can attest to that, but the script gives him painfully little to work with as Joshua Pearce's rivalry/friendship plays out in predictable fashion with Sonny Hayes.  There's a moment where it feels like the script might take their relationship and the story into more meaningful territory which would have been far more interesting than the more predictable path, they end up choosing.  Kerry Condon is given the thankless job as the perfunctory love interest that's given just enough backstory to give her character a tad more depth than you'd usually expect. Javier Bardem has fun as the team owner and former teammate of Pitt's Sonny Hayes that brings him back into F1.  Tobias Menzies is wasted as the scheming board member who's hoping for the team's failure and ultimate sale.  Once it’s all said and done you get the feeling there was an opportunity for F1 to be something truly special if the amount of time and care put into the racing sequences had been given to the story and characters. 

B-