Brad Pitt’s ‘F1’ has phenomenal racing scenes but a dull script

The key word is “formula.”

F1, the new Brad Pitt-led action-drama set around the globe, is a look at the high-stakes, cutting-edge world of Formula One racing. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, touching down after resuscitating the box office from its pandemic slump with Top Gun: Maverick, it aims to be a thrill-a-minute adventure. The truth is it’s more of a thrill-every-other-minute.

Put bluntly, the scenes that aren’t set on the track come close to feeling like a parody of every other racing movie you’ve ever seen. (How are the crews still surprised when these cars occasionally crash and the drivers end up in the hospital? Considering how fast everyone is going, they should be shocked it doesn’t happen more often!)

Anyway, the characters in F1 are rote, the dialogue is wooden, and the well-worn course of the narrative is extremely predictable. Considering how much effort went into this production, it’s plain weird they didn’t try to craft a more dynamic screenplay.

That may sound negative, so let’s hit in reverse and make one thing abundantly clear: Joseph Kosinski, whose pre-Top Gun films are Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, and two under-appreciated sleek dramas in Only the Brave and Spiderhead, is unquestionably one of the craftiest directors working today. From a strictly visual perspective, F1 has no peer in its dedication to speed, movement, and visceral excitement. There are things happening with cameras here — clearly not relying on CGI — that feel like miracles.

Miracles are a key plot point, too, in that Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the owner of the cellar dweller F1 team APXGP (casually called Apex), knows he’s about to lose his franchise if he can’t somehow notch a win this season. He goes all-in on recruiting his old pal Sonny (Pitt), a man who was destined to be the best, but drawing a bad hand 30 years ago sent his life careening into a ditch.

He’s out there picking up gigs— we see him win a big race in the movie’s Led Zeppelin-enhanced prologue — but he’s directionless, living in a van, with no attachments.

Ruben convinces him to join Apex, where Kate (Kerry Condon) is the “Scotty” of the operation and Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) is the rookie with loads of innate talent but too much adrenaline — just as he was years ago! Naturally the two are destined to butt heads, but, in time, become best pals.

But here’s where F1 can be a little confusing if you happen to be someone who has never paid attention to auto racing in your life. Sonny and Joshua are both super alpha dudes driven to be the best, but they are also a team. So only one of them can win. I guess this is a thing? Also: Formula One has a million rules. I kinda figured you just go around in a circle really fast and eventually someone comes in first, but there’s apparently a lot more to it than that (which the movie does attempt to explain).

As such, Joshua and Sonny have what seems like half of NASA behind them, tracking their every move with high-end computers and screaming things the whole time. Naturally, Sonny ignores it all (because he’s out there on the track, not behind a computer!) and even at one point declares that his strategy is simply to “drive fast.”

In other words, you really don’t need to understand all the ins-and-outs — like when to use soft tires or hard tires, which is a big “he’s doing what???” moment. The specifics are background noise; the scenes in F1 that hum are practically non-verbal, and beautiful.

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As in real racing, though, there is a ludicrous amount of advertising in F1, and it’s funny that the first two logos that get close-ups are for GEICO and Sunoco. Great — everyone’s favorite aspect of the automotive experience: shelling out for insurance and gas!

But those licensing deals helped underwrite this enormous production with sequences all over Europe, Las Vegas, and Abu Dhabi. There are also some wild, Batmobile-looking cars that our lovable egghead Kate crafts in her secret lair, which will secure Sonny and Joshua a fraction-of-a-second advantage that could make all the difference.

Condon is marvelous as the tough techie who, naturally, falls for Sonny, because the dude is Brad Pitt. The movie doesn’t even pretend that she’s going to be exasperated by his cowboy antics. It’s clear she’s on board the minute she lays on him — and who can blame her? Bardem gets a few good zings in, too, as the maverick owner who is way over his head. Tobias Menzies is also amusing as the sniveling worm investor who underestimates Sonny’s virtue, even if his scheme is way more complicated than it needs to be.

Damson Idris is strong and likeable as the cocky kid who learns a few life lessons along this route, and he does the best he can with a part you’ve seen a hundred times before.

And as for Pitt? Well, look, he’s the closest thing we’ve got to a Gary Cooper-like leading man. Naturally, the camera adores him. All he has to do is walk into frame and the audience applauds. But don’t go looking for him to do much introspective acting. His Sonny is a tough guy loner who, once he realizes he’s got an opportunity to finally be the champion, will stop at nothing to make that happen. Robert Redford didn’t offer much backstory in Downhill Racer either, and that’s pretty much the gold standard for this type of movie. 

With those warnings in place, buckle in. For flash and rumble, F1 doesn’t have an equal this summer. Roll down the windows and enjoy the ride. Grade: B