F1: The Movie (12A)

Thirty years after an accident on the track nearly ended his career, Sonny Hayes is contacted by former teammate Ruben Cervantes, who owns a struggling Formula 1 team. To save the team from collapse, Sonny will need to drive alongside hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce. The past catches up with Sonny on and off the circuit.

LondonNet Film Review

F1: The Movie (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Brad Pitt turns back the odometer, looking considerably younger than his svelte 61 years, and pumps the accelerator on testosterone-soaked bravado in Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski’s predictable drama, which boasts seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton as a producer. The British driver appears fleetingly alongside current Formula 1 stars in footage captured at real race weekends including Silverstone in Northamptonshire, where Pitt and co-star Damson Idris appear on the grid and in the pit lane as drivers of a fictional 11th team vying for championship glory…

The conflation of crowd-pleasing fantasy and high-octane reality is impressive, heightened by Pitt performing his own driving so remote-controlled, custom-made cameras, mounted on race cars, can spin through 180 degrees and capture his dogged expression in thrilling duels. When Kosinski’s picture feels the need for speed, the adrenaline rush is intoxicating. However, you can hear narrative brakes screech every time screenwriter Ehren Kruger addresses character development and a linear plot punctuated by fractious exchanges between the two leads as they jockey for supremacy behind the wheel. “I don’t live with my mum,” protests Idris’s cocky upstart, “she just cooks for me sometimes!” A romantic subplot between Pitt and Kerry Condon never accelerates into top gear.

Thirty years after an accident on the track nearly ended his driving career, Sonny Hayes (Pitt) delivers a dazzling penultimate leg in the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance competition for Chip Hart Racing. Soon after, he receives an unexpected visit from former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), who owns the Apex Grand Prix (APXGP) Formula 1 team. Ruben is 350 million US dollars in the red after a disastrous first half of the season without a single championship point. The board of directors is poised to pull the plug.

With just nine races left, Ruben begs Sonny to help him turn around APXGP’s fortunes by partnering hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce (Idris). Team principal Kaspar Molinski (Kim Bodnia), technical director Kate McKenna (Condon) and chief mechanic Dodge Dowda (Abdul Salis) join Joshua in openly questioning Ruben’s judgement by entrusting their fate to an old-timer who hasn’t driven Formula 1 for decades. Sonny silences his critics except for Joshua and his concerned mother Bernadette (Sarah Niles), who fears the veteran’s reckless streak could endanger her boy.

F1: The Movie is a technically polished and emotionally satisfying underdog story with one inevitable outcome at the glitzy Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that concludes the race season. Kosinski’s picture earns the chequered flag for its exhilarating depiction of life on the edge on rubber-scorched wheels and narrowly avoids clipping barriers with a brief injection of villainy in the boardroom. Pitt and Idris are well-matched as boyishly charming mentor and hot-headed protege, destined to learn valuable life lessons from each other.

– Jo Planter