- 02/07/2025
Film Brain gets behind the wheel of the Formula One movie, with big stars in big cars on the big screen, and it's both accurate and silly at the same time - but also entertaining.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Projector, and on this episode, Brad Pitt is in the driver's seat in F1.
00:22Sonny Hayes, played by Brad Pitt, who continues to race despite a terrible F1 crash decades ago,
00:28is asked by his friend and former teammate, Ruben Cervantes, player Javier Bardem, to join his team, Apex GP.
00:35Sonny has asked a mentor, talented rookie Joshua Pierce, by Damson Idris,
00:39and helped turn around the fortunes of a team that has never won a race,
00:43which are so dire that Ruben risks being ousted by the board.
00:48Okay, full disclosure, I'm reviewing this in the midst of a 30 degree heat wave,
00:52so if I'm sweating or it looks like I've just sprayed myself with some facial mist, then the answer is yes.
00:57Missed me.
01:02About a decade ago, Joseph Kaczynski was planning to make Ford v Ferrari, known as the Marne 66, internationally,
01:09with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in the lead roles, but that was shut down due to concerns over the budget.
01:15That film was made, of course, with Christian Bale and Matt Damon instead,
01:19and James Mangold directing, and a pretty decent movie it was too.
01:23But you can see echoes of that abandoned version of the project in the films that Kaczynski has made since.
01:29Instead, Kaczynski went on to make Top Gun Maverick with Cruise,
01:32one of the most acclaimed action films in recent memory,
01:35thanks in no small part to the fact that they got the actors up in the fighter jets,
01:39and they invented special Sony Venice cameras that could fit inside of the cockpit.
01:43That gave Maverick something that really hadn't been seen before,
01:47the closest sense to being inside one of those jets while still being on the ground,
01:51especially if you saw it in the 4DX version.
01:54Now Kaczynski has gone back to racing with F1, this time with Pitt in the lead role.
01:59It probably shouldn't have been a surprise then,
02:01that Tom Cruise showed up at the film's London premiere to complete the spiritual reunion.
02:06And F1's opening sequence, where Pitt's Sonny Hayes competes in the Daytona 500,
02:10almost feels like a tiny glimpse of what his version of Ford v Ferrari might have looked like,
02:15focusing on the visceral thrill of being behind the wheel at top speed as fireworks blast overhead.
02:21This all sets up Hayes as being an exceptional driver,
02:24who regains his team the lead after they've slipped down the board to seventh.
02:28There's also another cruise connection,
02:30in that the Daytona team is headed up briefly by Shea Wiggum,
02:33who just appeared in the last two Mission Impossible films,
02:36and is out of this film before his name even appears in the opening credits.
02:40And this is to Maverick what Days of Thunder is to Top Gun.
02:43Both films share that need for speed, and try to translate that to screen.
02:48But also the fact that it shares many similarities and recurring creatives,
02:52that almost serves as something of a spiritual sequel.
02:55Aaron Kruger, who co-wrote Maverick, has so low screenwriter duties here,
02:59and Hans Zimmer is doing the score.
03:02And of course, Jerry Brookheimer is also a producer on this,
03:06so that takes us completely full circle to Days of Thunder as well.
03:10And that comparison to Thunder is a pretty apt one as well, I feel,
03:13as that is considered to be inferior to Top Gun,
03:15and likewise F1 doesn't reach the heights of Maverick.
03:19Pun completely intended,
03:21but it's a pretty entertaining macho melodrama.
03:24Maybe the reason this isn't quite as exhilarating as Maverick is that it doesn't have the same novelty.
03:30We've had quite a few racing movies over the years,
03:32even some set in the world of Formula One.
03:34Rush, about the Hunt-Lauder feud, is a phenomenal movie.
03:38So really the difference here is the level of access that has been afforded to the filmmakers,
03:43especially by the notoriously secretive teams.
03:46That's in large part because of the fact that Lewis Hamilton is a producer on the movie,
03:50and they've got the involvement of the governing body, the FIA, on the film as well.
03:54Even the way it's been marketed as F1 the movie, registered trademark,
03:59lets you know this is all very official.
04:01That tight security has been a big reason why we haven't seen that many movies set in Formula One.
04:07Stallone tried to do it in the 90s,
04:08they said no,
04:10so he went with CART instead and made the disastrous Driven.
04:14I think they might have made the right decision in hindsight.
04:17But even then, this isn't completely unprecedented.
04:19Back in 1966, John Frankenheimer made Grand Prix,
04:24which was very much the equivalent of this film for that era,
04:27in that they got a huge amount of access to the teams and tracks,
04:30as well as filled with cameos from all the major drivers of the time.
04:33Even that film's star, James Garner,
04:36became so proficient behind the wheel that he impressed the actual drivers.
04:40And the film itself still holds up fairly well.
04:42I saw it a few years ago,
04:44and it's a somewhat romantic snapshot of that era,
04:47but also how dangerous and deadly that time was as well.
04:51F1 also shows a snapshot for the current era,
04:54and I suspect it'll only go on to be more so as the years pass,
04:57but one that shows the slick,
04:59very corporate and commercial world that it's grown to become,
05:02where the danger is still there,
05:04but it's more of a calculated risk.
05:07And commercial is certainly the right word,
05:09as there's hardly a frame in this where you don't see branding or product placement,
05:14most prominently from Shark Ninja Air Fryers,
05:16Tommy Hilfiger,
05:17and Heineken,
05:18among many,
05:19many others.
05:21But then again,
05:21given the amount of sponsors you've seen F1 these days,
05:24it would be more weird if it wasn't there,
05:27to be honest.
05:28But what F1 the movie exists to do,
05:30of course,
05:30is to sell the brand,
05:32and likely to sell the brand specifically to America,
05:35which hasn't quite taken to the sport in the same way it has done in Europe,
05:39and the rest of the world.
05:40Hence why we have an A-list American actor like Brad Pitt in the lead,
05:44and hey,
05:45if it doesn't work in America,
05:46it has such global name recognition that should perform pretty well internationally.
05:51Admittedly,
05:51the 61-year-old Pitt is one of the film's big credibility stretches,
05:55even if he does look exceptional for his age.
05:58But the idea that someone like Hayes would be brought back to F1 after decades away from the sport,
06:04and not be in some supervising role instead,
06:07borders on the preposterous even in a team as desperate as Apex GP supposedly is.
06:12Even Driven didn't make Stallone,
06:14who was in his mid-50s then,
06:16the focal point in the way that this does for Pitt.
06:19And Pitt's Sonny Hayes is meant to be a massive talent that never got his due.
06:24His former F1 career was cut short after a horrific crash that ejected him onto the track,
06:30which is based on the 1990 incident that ended Martin Donnelly's career,
06:34and does actually use some real footage from that crash,
06:36but with a de-aged Pitt in his place.
06:39The resulting injuries,
06:40hinted at by a large scar down his back,
06:43threw Sonny off course,
06:44but that lust for racing has never left him,
06:47and he's been living out of his van,
06:49going from race to race,
06:51looking for a challenge.
06:52That's what drives him.
06:54And it's implied that his life away from the track,
06:57doing what he does best,
06:58is a disaster area of broken marriages,
07:01a gambling addiction,
07:02and even a stint as a cabbie.
07:04When he's asked if he has some regrets,
07:06he answers,
07:07yes,
07:08which might actually be the most autobiographical moments in the film for Pitt,
07:11given his own personal life recently.
07:14And going back to F1 and trying to vanquish those bad memories
07:17is an irresistible challenge for Sonny.
07:20He's a wild card,
07:21you see,
07:21he's always trying to gamble the odds,
07:24hence why he's usually faffing around with a pack of cars that he has as a good luck charm.
07:28But while Sonny projects this independent spirit,
07:31and can seem unpredictable and reckless in his behaviour,
07:35we'll get back to that,
07:36he's actually a team player.
07:38There's a method to his madness,
07:40even when he's pulling Plan C,
07:42which supposedly means combat,
07:44but could just as easily mean chaos.
07:47And this set up where he's asked to mentor a young rookie
07:50is very much reminiscent of what happens in Maverick,
07:52where he's asked to oversee these hotshots for a mission
07:55that only someone like him could pull off.
07:58But it doesn't quite work in the same way here,
08:01as this obviously isn't a long gestating sequel,
08:03and it doesn't find the unexpected dramatic way
08:06that brought to the table in Maverick.
08:09Nor does it tent the meta commentary on Brad Pitt
08:11in the same way that that movie did for Tom Cruise.
08:14Everyone talks about Cruise being the last movie star,
08:17but I've never really agreed with that,
08:19especially given that Pitt's been a big name draw
08:22almost as long as he has.
08:24But it's undeniable that F1 writes a lot on Pitt's rugged charisma,
08:29making a compelling argument for double denim,
08:31even pausing to have a moment where someone comments on just how handsome he is.
08:35And Pitt is a good actor, he's proven that many times in the past,
08:39but he's mostly in movie star mode here,
08:42because that's what the role demands of him,
08:44just like someone like Steve McQueen before him.
08:47He needs to be masculine and iconic
08:49to keep things compelling between the races,
08:51and not get smoked off the screen when the cars are there.
08:55Likewise, the dynamic between Hayes and Damson Nidges' Pierce
08:58is also reminiscent of that between Maverick and Rooster,
09:01that kind of combativeness that eventually thaws into a level of respect.
09:06But Pierce is also a very different character to Rooster.
09:09He's got a lot of potential, but he's distracted by the noise.
09:13He's very image conscious,
09:16and constantly worrying about how he's being portrayed on social media,
09:19not helped by his manager Cashman,
09:21played by Samson and Kayo,
09:23who keeps fueling Pierce's anger towards Sonny.
09:26And yeah, if I was a cocky 20-something,
09:28and I had a 60-year-old brought in as my teammate,
09:31and was stealing my thunder,
09:32I think I might be a bit resentful too.
09:35And Damson Nidges, a rising star himself after things like Snowfall,
09:40brings his own charisma to the table,
09:42and a likable side to the character,
09:44especially his close bond with his mother, Bernadette,
09:47played by Sarah Niles,
09:48who is very protective of her son,
09:50but also keeps his ego in check.
09:53But you can also feel at points that Pierce's characterisation is influenced by Lewis Hamilton,
09:58where he could be a stand-in for his younger days,
10:00where he took F1 by storm.
10:02That makes it especially amusing when Hamilton himself shows up towards the end
10:05in The Last Race in Abu Dhabi,
10:08without any dialogue, I should stress,
10:10and dukes out with Pierce as the film's final boss.
10:13So you've effectively got Hamilton versus Hamilton.
10:16I'd like to remind you,
10:18he's the producer.
10:20And like Grand Prix before,
10:21at F1 is a big ensemble movie,
10:24with a lot of different characters and subplots,
10:26which do add a lot of bloat to the two and a half hour running time.
10:30Kerry Condon does some good work as technical director Kate,
10:33but I think her performance massages the fact that
10:35it isn't actually a great role as written on the page.
10:39They make a big deal about the fact that she's a woman
10:41in this very male-dominated sport,
10:44and by extension, this male-dominated movie,
10:46but she also serves as Pitt's love interest.
10:49So you get all this kind of rom-com-y stuff,
10:52where Kate's saying,
10:52oh, I'm the technical director,
10:54I'm a professional,
10:55and I don't get into relationships with co-workers.
10:58But of course,
10:58that Brad Pitt smile just whittles down her defences,
11:02and soon they're making out faster,
11:04and you can say,
11:04box, box, box!
11:06I personally think that kind of writing is really outdated,
11:09and maybe a more subtle romantic tension would have worked better.
11:13Elsewhere,
11:13Javier Bardem brings some much-need charisma
11:16and some very sharp-looking suits to the corporate side of things,
11:20which means he has to serve as Sonny's conscience when he gets out of line,
11:24but also deal with the board,
11:26as represented by Tobias Menzies,
11:28who gets to go almost comedy-level smarmy towards the end.
11:32Killing Eve's Kim Bodnia also turns up as team principal Casper,
11:36most of it in a state of exasperation,
11:38as he gets pissed off at Sonny,
11:40constantly disobeying his orders.
11:43But of course,
11:43the big central attraction is the race sequences,
11:46especially since they're using a modified version of the technology developed for Maverick
11:50to fit the cameras inside the cars,
11:52and seeing Piss and Idris driving alongside the real drivers.
11:56The cameras have this very wide-angle look,
11:59so they can fit everything in the frame,
12:00and I bet it looks especially spectacular in IMAX,
12:03where the whole film is opened up on the top and bottom.
12:06I saw this in the regular presentation, by the way.
12:09As I said earlier,
12:10this isn't as novel as it was in Maverick,
12:12as we've seen racing movies before that have done similar things,
12:15and we've seen actors on the track too,
12:17but that doesn't diminish that the racing sequences
12:20are exciting and dynamic in a way
12:22that feels truly authentic to being in the car.
12:25And then you add on top of that Hans Zimmer's pounding, propulsive score,
12:29that just adds to the adrenaline and the sound design,
12:33like the distinctive buzz of the cars just whizzing past,
12:36and you get this very thrilling cinematic experience.
12:40Real-life commentators Martin Brundle and David Croft are brought in for the film,
12:44and their commentary does help clarify the on-screen action,
12:48especially for those who are less familiar with the sport.
12:50But I did chuckle a few times
12:53because their dialogue is so obviously expository
12:56that it doesn't sound natural to what they would say,
12:59and they do seem overly fixated on Brad Pitt's car.
13:03Unfortunately, the race sequences are somewhat diminished by the racing
13:06because Son engages in a lot of behaviour
13:08that I would describe as being cowboy bullshit.
13:12Stuff like deliberately starting late on the warm-up lap
13:14so that his tyres will be warmer for the start,
13:16or his preposterous shenanigans of the Hungarian Grand Prix
13:20where he intentionally makes the safety car come out three times.
13:25That's not tactics, that's just straight-up cheating.
13:28And while this stuff is amusing,
13:30it did pull me out of the movie
13:32because there is absolutely no way in hell
13:35this kind of erratic and disruptive behaviour
13:37would be tolerated
13:39without incurring a load of penalties and fines in the process,
13:42especially when manipulation is so blatant
13:45that the commentary team is pointing it out.
13:48They have a couple of lines that actually address this very briefly,
13:51but just kind of skirts around it.
13:54And it's so much more distracting
13:55because the film is trying to be accurate
13:57so the silly sensationalism sticks out,
14:00especially when you're familiar with Formula One.
14:03I mean, if you've seen the race,
14:04you know they've got enough drama
14:06that they don't need this OTT silliness.
14:09F1 isn't a brilliant film,
14:11but it is an enjoyable one.
14:13The plot isn't going to surprise anyone.
14:15It goes down a very familiar track
14:17and I did start to feel the length in the home stretch.
14:21But this is pure popcorn entertainment,
14:23especially if you're a fan of Formula One,
14:26just two hours of big movie stars and even bigger cars.
14:30For all the modern gloss,
14:31there's something quite old school about the whole thing
14:34in the same way that Maverick was,
14:35and that's probably down in part to Brookheimer's involvement
14:38and his long history with crowd pleasers.
14:42And sure, it's a big ad,
14:43but it's well-directed
14:44and the racing sequences are exceptional.
14:46It's a little less interesting off the track,
14:49but that's usually the case with these types of films.
14:52It's also probably wise
14:53not to think about the optics of the ending,
14:55especially since it seems like the filmmakers
14:57didn't really think about that.
14:59Is it superior to Rush?
15:01I don't think it is,
15:02because that for me,
15:03I think is the best Formula One movie
15:04that isn't a documentary.
15:06But if you're heading to the movies,
15:07it's worth the pit stop.
15:10Get it?
15:11It's a pun.
15:13If you like this review
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15:33It all helps.
15:34Until next time,
15:36I'm Matthew Buck,
15:37feeding out.
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