Banner image: Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
The problem with making films about beloved brands is obvious: how can you craft a compelling narrative when you’re contractually obliged to cast your corporate overlords in a favourable light? Sure, you can follow in Greta Gerwig’s footsteps and take good-natured aim at the very franchise that’s sponsoring you, but, somehow, we doubt that this tactic was ever on the table for Joseph Kosinski and his new Formula One film.
This creative catch-22 is plain to see in F1, which stars Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a (fictional) once-rising star in the days of Senna and Schumacher, whose career in the big leagues was cut short by a grisly crash. Throughout, the realm of top-flight motorcar racing is treated with nothing but gooey, self-serious reverence, and co-writers Kosinski and Ehren Kruger are afforded zero license to plumb the psychological depths of why people risk their lives in the essentially pointless pursuit of getting around a paved loop in the fastest time possible.
Yet, despite their handicap, the team that brought us Top Gun: Maverick deliver a thoroughly enjoyable and immersive cinematic experience through a mix of unapologetically old-school storytelling and cutting-edge filmmaking technology.
We meet Hayes as he prepares for a shift behind the wheel at the 24 Hours of Daytona, a famous Florida endurance race. He’s a rather hackneyed cool-guy burnout, flicking playing cards into fruit bowls and doing pullups in the back of his campervan to the sounds of Led Zeppelin. Since bombing out of Formula One in a blaze of twisted metal and broken bones back in the 90s, he’s scraped together a nomadic living by driving anything with an engine. But when his old racing pal, Ruben (Javier Bardem), invites him to join his failing F1 team, Apex, Hayes finds himself with a second chance to compete amongst the A-listers.
Photo by Scott Garfield, Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple Original Films
As you might expect, upon sauntering over the tarmac horizon at Silverstone, duffle bag in hand, Hayes soon finds that he’s got his work cut out for him. Despite their talented team, Apex is yet to finish a race in the top 10, and Ruben will be ousted if they don’t clinch a Grand Prix win by season’s end. What’s more, Hayes’ arrival immediately ruffles some feathers, particularly those of promising rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), whose unmoulded talent Ruben hopes will benefit from the sculpting of Hayes’ experienced hands.
For a film that dramatises one of the most dangerous sports out there, F1 takes almost no narrative risks. The plot is inescapably generic, sharing more than a passing resemblance with director Joseph Kosinski’s other cinematic thrill ride, Top Gun: Maverick. That project also saw a grizzled loose cannon with a chequered past emerging from obscurity to mentor a reluctant young blood in the art of whizzing around at high speed.
And, as in the 2022 fighter pilot adventure, F1 is served up with greedy helpings of 80s-inspired cheesiness, featuring testosterone-fuelled workout montages and reverent stock one-liners – the latter of which are churned out at a breakneck rate by a Gucci-suited Bardem.
But somehow, even when the film veers into cliche, which it does in almost every scene, it feels less like a rip-off of a million other movies, and more like it’s engaging with a tried and tested storytelling tradition in a way that packs a satisfyingly nostalgic hit. Why this is, I’m not entirely sure.
Maybe it’s Kerry Condon’s standout performance as Apex’s fierce and charming technical director, which provides a grounding counterpoint to Pitt’s squinting, nonchalant man-of-action, who borders on caricature. Or perhaps it’s because the races themselves are so well choreographed, dynamically shot, and utterly absorbing (enhanced by Hans Zimmer’s stirring, synthy score) that you don’t care that most of the off-track drama is pretty bog standard.
Photo by Scott Garfield, Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple Original Films
In a bid to indoctrinate a cohort of potential fans that weren’t lured in by Netflix’s landmark docuseries, Drive to Survive, the filmmakers make sure that you don’t need to know anything about Formula One before watching. While co-writers Kosinski and Ehren Kruger devise some engaging strategies to weave some of the sport’s unique rules into the storyline, these are often explained directly via the race commentators, which feels clunky, but gets the job done. There will also surely be nitpicky gearheads who are frustrated by the implausible lengths Hayes goes to exploit some of these regulations, particularly those involving safety cars and red flags. But for a layman like me, they add to the drama effectively enough.
The rest of the cast all do a commendable job, particularly Ted Lasso’s Sarah Niles, who features as Pearce’s no-nonsense mother. Up-and-comer Damson Idris also holds his weight with the likes of Pitt and Condon, switching gears between smarmy Gen Z superstar and insecure freshman.
With cameos galore and products stuffed in with the same maximalist zeal that brand names are plastered onto Formula One cars, you’d think it would be hard to forget that the film is essentially a two-and-a-half-hour-long advertisement for the franchise. But thanks to an array of solid performances and heart-thumping race scenes, the truth is that I found it difficult not to.
We may have seen this story hundreds of times before, but to get bogged down on that would be to miss the point entirely. Just sit back (preferably in front of the biggest screen you can find), switch off your brain, and enjoy some unpretentious thrills.
F1: The Movie is in cinemas now.
Have you watched F1: The Movie? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.