Cinema has changed. I feel it in the theater. I feel it in the streaming platforms. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.
It began with the corporations’ deep desire to make as much money as possible with the least creative liability. What began as harmless franchises packing theaters and enthralling audiences soon turned into spiraling multiverses, endless live action remakes and unnecessary retellings of older tales.
Gone are the summer blockbusters of old that allowed us to simply turn our brains off from the stressors of daily life and to be immersed in the worlds and lives of others. Gone are the action packed sequences that not only enthrall and delight audiences with their dazzling imagery, but also tell daring stories.
Hollywood is finally beginning to understand that despite their massive piles of money amassed in the last decade because of their ideology shift, audiences are getting burnt out and bored, and the box office results are reflecting it. We’re tired of reboots and live action remakes and the 13th addition to decade-spanning franchises; we’re tired of shameless appeals to nostalgia and cheap celebrity cameos. Time is running out for the reboot, and Hollywood can smell it.
Which brings me to something I did not expect this summer. A completely original, politically neutral and action-packed self-contained film starring one of the last of a dying breed of genuine movie stars. I’m talking of course about “F1 The Movie” starring Brad Pitt. Watching this film was like when you can finally breathe after your nose has cleared and you remember what a full, deep intake of fresh air is like.
The film (produced by Apple) starts with a close up shot of a sixty-one year old Brad Pitt wearing Air Pod Pro Max headphones, setting the tone for the company’s frequent product placement the rest of the runtime. Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a former F1 racing star who’s promising career was cut short by a freak accident. Since then, he’s been seeking to fulfill the driving itch he calls ‘flying’ by almost any and all driving gigs — from taxi servicing to winning Daytona for Porsche and walking away after like it’s nothing. His rambling racer ways are brought to a head when former F1 teammate and now Team Principal Ruben, played by Javier Bardem, offer him a seat in his team APXGP in a desperate attempt to get them points in the championship so they don’t get sold off.
The foil to Pitt’s hardened devil-may-care racing vet is Joshua Pearce played by Damson Idris (side note: I would love to see him as James Bond). Pearce is everything Hayes was at his age — competitive and eager to prove himself, yet arrogant and inexperienced, so it was inevitable that they butted heads. An intense rivalry and constant desire to one up the other at the cost of a team victory led to several collisions that cost them a race. Their competing personalities, conflicts on and off the track, and eventual reconciliation are the heart of the character work of the film and in my opinion its strongest writing.
Some additional character attributes that leveled up the script for me was adding unique quirks to Hayes’ character harkening back to older films of similar ilk. Rocky Balboa bounces a rubber ball and likes pets and bad jokes, Sonny Hayes shuffles a deck of cards and puts one in his pocket before the race, wears mismatched socks and goes for runs on the racetrack with the pit crew. It’s Sonny’s intentionality with the often unsung heroes of F1 that set him apart from his teammate and make the team feel like a family.
Some weaker points of the film include painfully corny and completely self-serious dialogue that I cannot picture an actual writer putting to paper (see “Fast and Furious” or “Top Gun”) and a romance so quick and lacking chemistry that it hurts to watch (see also “Top Gun Maverick”). A personal favorite part of the film is at the end when Pitt, who self described himself as ‘punk rock’ before in the film, is asked why he wants to drive (this time for Baja off-roading). Pitt pauses, chuckles lightly, and credits roll with a song by everyone’s favorite leprechaun, Ed Sheeran. Punk Rock indeed, Brad.
But of course, what everyone is really there to see is the racing. And let me tell you, it absolutely delivers. You feel like you’re in the car, deafened by the roar of the engines. You can smell the burnt rubber and feel the air violently rushing by you. It’s immersive, it’s intense and it will have you at the edge of your seat grinning, which is fitting seeing as it is directed by the same man who delivered us the greatest piece of US Military propaganda of all time.
“F1 The Movie” promises nothing more than a good time, and it goes above and beyond in delivering it. It won’t make the awards circuit, it contributes nothing to the conversation about the state of the world today and it does not leave its audiences with any questions about life, art, or themselves. But what it does is allow you to grab your buddies, some popcorn and coke and relax and enjoy an original and engaging experience. The only convincing this film is trying to do is get you to buy a subscription to F1 TV, and you know what? It worked.
