‘F1’ Movie Review: Brad Pitt’s Sports Drama Makes No Sense

This article originally ran in June. celebrity.land is republishing it now that it is streaming on Apple TV.

Halfway through a climactic race in “F1 The Movie,” something goes horribly wrong for our heroes. And yet, through a fluke of Formula 1’s complex and inscrutable rules, the underdog Apex Grand Prix team comes out on top. (Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler. It’s a recurring theme throughout the two-and-a-half-hour-long film.)

In response to this surprising series of events, one character shouts out, “That makes no sense.”

Those four words apply to many of the scenes in “F1,” which tells the story of a washed-up race car driver named Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) who gets recruited to join a struggling team owned by his old friend Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem). While director Joseph Kosinski does his best to inject the same breakneck-speed energy here that he brought to “Top Gun: Maverick,” his latest film ultimately winds up feeling more like a commercial for Formula 1 than a great sports movie — even when it’s very entertaining.

At the start of “F1,” Hayes is living out of his van and drifting from race to race. The races and prizes don’t matter; he’s just interested in the thrill of driving fast and beating the competition. At first, Pitt plays the character with a careful balance of sadness and braggadocio, but any signs of humility quickly wash away as soon as Hayes returns to Formula 1, where he cleverly exploits the sport’s many convoluted rules to score a series of upsets.

Hayes joins a failing team on the verge of total collapse due to a vehicle design in desperate need of an upgrade and an inexperienced driver with too much confidence. Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) is a perfect foil for Pitt’s Hayes, a cocky sports star more interested in going viral on social media than in winning races, and Idris plays the role flawlessly, which is a good thing because their actual competition is totally devoid of personality.

Throughout “F1,” Pearce and Hayes race against dozens of other drivers on beautiful tracks all over the world. None of those drivers gets even a single line of dialogue to convey their own motivations. They’re basically the equivalent of computer-controlled enemy characters in a racing video game, rather than actual antagonists in a movie. It’s possible this is an intentional decision by Kosinski or screenwriter Ehren Kruger to emphasize how the sport of Formula 1 is ultimately a psychological battle against oneself — mental and physical training will only get you so far when you’re jammed into a hot metal box whipping around a track at absurd speeds — but that doesn’t exactly make for good filmmaking. Heroes need villains. (“F1” does eventually get around to establishing a villain, but we don’t learn enough to care much about him either.)

On the plus side, “F1” is an audio-visual feast. Kosinski’s skill at filming the jet fighter planes in “Top Gun: Maverick” translates well into the world of Formula 1. Each race (and there are many) will have you leaning forward in your seat and holding your breath. One moment in particular, where Hayes flies across the track in total silence is still seared into my memory, a perfect representation of the way man and technology become one to achieve something wholly unique to this sport.

Meanwhile, composer Hans Zimmer delivers yet another incredible score, this time full of synth and heavy bass. When Zimmer isn’t transforming the movie into a European nightclub, “F1” sprinkles in a handful of classic rock songs that reinforce Pitt’s persona: simultaneously over the hill and at the height of his power.

“F1” offers plenty to love, including a great cast, thrilling set pieces and beautiful visuals. However, if you’re not already watching Formula 1, this film is unlikely to convert you. It’s too interested in the minutiae of the sport to bother explaining its basic appeal.

“F1” sometimes gets so bogged down in the rules of the sport that it risks alienating casual audiences. Die-hard fans of the real thing may enjoy its dramatized portrayal, but for the rest of us, “F1” is a fun distraction that ultimately makes no sense.

“F1 The Movie” is streaming on Apple TV.