F1: The Movie review — Brad Pitt racing drama earns a spot in the winner's circle

Formula 1 is not one of the sports that I typically follow, as I never found it all that compelling to watch on TV. Watching F1: The Movie on the big screen though (in my case on an IMAX screen), yeah, I was riveted by the on-the-track action as the movie places you right in the driver’s seat.

That’s a similar strategy that F1: The Movie director Joseph Kosinski took with his previous movie, Top Gun: Maverick, and it works again here. The director and his team filmed during real F1 events, allowing them to authentically capture what it’s like to compete in one of the fastest sports in the world; and for extra authenticity to do so among so many of F1’s actual competitors and personalities.

On the track, F1: The Movie is an absolute winner. When we’re not focused on the racing is when a few bumps in the road come up. And it’s not that the story or the all-star cast led by Brad Pitt are bad, they just don’t elevate the movie in any notable way. Still, none of that is enough to keep F1: The Movie from being one a worthy summer blockbuster.

F1: The Movie follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), a nomadic racer-for-hire whose F1 dreams were dashed years ago after a horrific crash. He gets another shot when an old friend (Javier Bardem) wants him to help save his struggling F1 team. Forced to contend with a hot-shot rookie driver (Damson Idris) and to redesign a car that can effectively compete with the top teams with their technical director (Kerry Condon), Sonny puts everything on the line for a last shot at redemption.

If you’re like me and barely know anything about F1 racing, the movie does a good job guiding you along with key aspects so you can effectively understand the stakes and the strategies of the races. The movie could very well be a primer for a new wave of F1 fans, which was certainly one of its goals with F1 legend Lewis Hamilton and the racing league itself helping to produce the movie.

At the same time, it’s not a dumbed down version of the sport. I watched the movie with one of my friends who is a major F1 fan and he had a blast seeing real-life F1 figures make appearances, their personalities and racing styles being effectively captured on screen. And even if there are instances of movie magic/convenience, to paraphrase, he said any inaccuracies were small enough it didn’t prevent him from enjoying the movie.

So credit to Kosinski, who once again proves he is a master of putting audiences in high-octane positions that make for great entertainment on the big screen.

While the main attraction is the racing, the overall story of Sonny and his team isn’t bad, it just has a hard time keeping up the highs we get from the track. Notably, the relationship between Sonny and Joshua, the rookie driver, has a weird flow to it; a plot line revolving around Sonny’s injury history proves inconsequential; and the movie has some struggles bringing the ending in for a landing, dragging on longer than it needs to.

Still, Pitt brings the swagger of a wily, wildcard driver, having good chemistry with Idris, Bardem and Condon, who are all solid.

There are probably better movies about why people would choose to risk their lives driving cars at such speeds and the cost of those pursuits, but I don’t know if there’s been a movie to date that has captured the actual feel of the sport as well as F1: The Movie. I’m not sure I’ll be an F1 convert after it, but I definitely have a greater appreciation for the sport.

F1: The Movie is now playing exclusively in movie theaters.