F1 movie review
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damon Idris, Javier Bardem, Kerry Condon, Kim Bodnia, Sarah Niles, Tobias Menzies, and Callie Cooke
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: ★★★.5
What makes a perfect film, or rather just a good film? Is it all the things that make it a work of art? Good screenplay, nice pacing, great performances, and technical aspects, that whole gamut. Or is it just how it manages to entertain you, even if it clings to the tropes and templates that purists scoff at? Joseph Kosinski‘s IMAX-sized adaptation of Drive To Survive (raises sarcasm sign) lies somewhere in between. F1 is a fun film. On the big screen, it is an experience, bringing the best aspects of Top Gun and Rush into one film. But it is also very predictable and templated, following the tropes to the letter. Yet, the overall experience never feels jaded or old. The packaging of this old wine is in a sparkling new bottle. And boy, will that help it sell big!
The premise
Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is a washed-out racing driver whose best days are behind him. He raced in Formula One in 1993 as a promising rookie before an accident ended his career. In his 50s now, he lives in a camper van and drives in any series he can find, however small. His life takes a turn when his former F1 teammate, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), meets him. Now the owner of a struggling F1 team – Apex – he wants to hire Sonny as his second driver for the remainder of the season. Ruben believes that Sonny’s experience can help his rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damon Idris), do better. The team has never scored points in their F1 history, and Ruben knows that if they don’t win one race this season, he will be forced to sell the team. Enter a reluctant Sonny, who brings his world of experience. But he has personal demons to battle, and an antagonistic Joshua to befriend, before they can dream of the chequered flag.
Where the film wins
F1 has one of the most basic plots ever. The time-tested battle against the odds and the rules, the underdog story. It shows how the weakest team in F1 uses all the resources at their disposal and some street-smart thinking to compete with the Ferraris and the Red Bulls on track. Even before the film begins, you know how it’s going to end. But the fun of F1 is not in not being able to predict what is going to happen next. You already know that, sometimes right down to the cheesy line of dialogue that comes up. But the real fun is in the journey, and how Joseph Kosinski presents it.
F1 is an experience, marrying top-notch cinematography with some exhilarating racing action. If the filmmaker honed his craft filming fighter jets in Top Gun, he has perfected his love for speed here. There are countless moments in the film that make your jaw drop and elicit audible gasps. That is all a sports film needs to do. In the final moments, even though you know how it must pan out, you wait with bated breath as the drama unfolds. A film that can draw loud cheers in one scene, and can inspire pin-drop silence in another, has clearly connected with the audience.
Brad Pitt was born to play Sonny Hayes. His irreverent charm, carefree candour, and swagger make him a cross between James Hunt and Mick Jagger, essentially making Sonny the cliched likeable ass****. Damon Idris deserves credit for playing the cocky rookie with panache too, and Javier Bardem brings his trademark mix of depth and humour as the team boss. But among the rest of the cast, the only standout performer is Sarah Niles, who delivers the film’s standout moment in a confrontation with Brad Pitt’s Sonny.
The roadblocks
Much has been said about F1’s treatment of its women. There are three impactful female characters in the film. Apart from Sarah Niles (who plays Joshua’s mother), the other two are part of the Apex GP team – Kate McKenna, the APXGP technical director (Kerry Condon) and Jodie, an APXGP mechanic (Callie Cooke). It is puzzling that while telling the story of a sport that infamously sidelines women, F1 chooses to portray the woman mechanic as the underconfident, bumbling fool. Sure, she gets a redemption arc, but was it too much to not show the only woman crew member as ‘out of place’?
Similarly, the film starts out well by showing Kate as a confident woman, the first female technical director in F1, only to have her end up as the ‘romantic interest’ by the end. Yes, there are more layers to her character, but the choices Kosinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger make for the women in F1 are baffling.
F1 gets one thing right, something many racing teams fail at. That, essentially, all of motor racing is a team sport. It is never about one man rising above the limitations of his car and winning. That may make for a great story, but it is far from realistic. F1 gets that realism on! It involves the intricacies (and often stupidities) of Formula One’s rules and regulations, and makes good use of the politics of F1 too. The film is as close to a real Formula One film as we can get, with Verstappen winning, women thirsting after Sainz, and rookies crashing. Of course, an American on the podium immediately tells you this is Hollywood and not real life.
The film also makes sure to downplay heroism while not sacrificing any of the drama. There is enough happening that will never happen on an F1 track. But this film makes that believable. The hot-and-cold camaraderie between Sonny and Joshua is pivotal to it all, bringing a very real-world parallel of the teammates-yet-rivals trope. And tropes is something F1 excels at.
Is it a podium finish then?
For me, Rush remains the gold standard when it comes to racing films. Ford vs Ferrari is a very close second, almost a photo finish, I’d say. F1 never challenges these two films for the top spot on the podium. But it makes a case for itself as the most fun racing film made since Days of Thunder. The wisecracks, the cheesiness, and the stunningly beautiful racing make it an experience unlike any other.
F1 was a difficult production. It was shot on real race weekends on real tracks, with many F1 drivers and crew members making cameo appearances. Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff, Fernando Alsono, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez make an appearance. We see real crowds. That brings in realism without ever looking like a gimmick. Countless films have tried this by using real athletes, but it has never quite looked as real. If F1 succeeds with the audience, other makers will likely try to replicate this, perhaps for other sports. But in that regard, at least, F1 is likely to remain the gold standard for some time to come.
