Joseph Kosinski loves the films of the 1980s. As a director, he understands what makes a big Hollywood movie work, especially the pictures that were designed for a summer release back in that fruitful movie-making decade.. The best 80s blockbusters concentrated not only on explosive action, but interesting characters. Audiences cared about everyman John McLaine in Die Hard. We were terrified when Roger Murtagh’s family was kidnapped by the baddies in Lethal Weapon. For fans of Top Gun, it hurt when Goose died. Those films would not have worked as well if there was no one to care for. All the flash in the world can’t carry a story if there is an absence of good characters and the right actors to pull them off. Using his skills at captaining a big budget and cast (and even bigger action set-pieces), Kosinski’s latest, F1, is the type of grand and exciting entertainment that Hollywood used to make. 

Racing pictures have been around since before “Talkies”, but very few have caught real fire at the box office. John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix was a financial success in 1966 thanks to state-of-the-art camerawork during the racing scenes and the presence of lead actor James Garner. James Goldstone’s 1969 film, Winning, made a profit for its studio and turned its star, Paul Newman, into a lifelong racing enthusiast. Tony Scott’s Days of Thunder was a big hit thanks to the star wattage of Tom Cruise and a great supporting cast. The reunion of Scott, Cruise, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer was popular with moviegoers in the summer of 1990, but the film was unfairly compared to the powerhouse financial success of the trio’s previous collaboration, Top Gun.

Unfortunately, many more racing films never found success. 1971’s Steve McQueen-starring Le Mans, 1973’s The Last American Hero (featuring Jeff Bridges), Sidney Pollack’s unfairly maligned Bobby Deerfield (1977), David Cronenberg’s Fast Company (1979), 1983’s excellent Heart Like a Wheel, and the 2003 Renny Harlin-Sylvester Stallone popcorn flick Driven, could not find box office gold.

Each of these movies were different in tone and style, but balanced exciting on-the-track action with intense personal situations. It has been 112 years since the first racing film (Mack Sennett’s 1913 comedy short Race For Life), and all of the stories have been told in just about every way. Acknowledging the unavoidable clichés found in the auto racing genre, director Kosinski drives right over them as F1 finds a near perfect balance of edge-of-your-seat action and involving personal drama. 

Written by Ehrenn Kruger and director Kosinski, the film’s plot will not feel new to anyone who has ever seen a sports film. Cocky young talent, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) is an up and comer who is full of skill but void of focus. Joshua races for the “Apex Grand Prix” team, owned by former racer Ruben (Javier Bardem). Apex is plagued by losses and the board is threatening to sell the company, which has become the laughing stock of the other Formula One circuit. To help Joshua and the team find their way to a win (and to save himself from financial ruin), Ruben seeks out his old friend and racing buddy/competitor, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a once golden boy of the Formula One circuit whose life was changed after a crash that almost killed him years ago.

Joshua is young,cocky, and self-serving. Sonny is the old pro whose style is more aggressive, but there is method to his madness. The two personalities couldn’t be more incompatible and their respective approaches to the sport they love are polar opposites. Their confrontational relationship manifests in person, and continues on and off the track. Both men learn something about themselves, about friendship, and what it means to trust your teammate. 

There is no denying how the film’s premise is a simplistic one. Sports movies where the old dog who lost it all is called upon to teach a younger newbie how to win is a well-worn premise. There are no dramatic surprises in films of this ilk. Kosinski knows this. While the film’s screenplay is solid, the filmmakers know there aren’t any surprises in their human stories. The characters are all two-dimensional, but the rapport and dedication of the great cast keeps things moving. What brings F1 to the finish line is its superior action. Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda put the audience into the driver’s seat and allow them to feel the G-force pressure reached by cars hitting speeds of almost 230 miles per hour. Miranda shoots in wide angles to achieve a visual feel for the different tracks these drivers traverse. The film was shot on actual racing circuits around the world. As seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is credited as a producer, the filmmakers had full cooperation from the organizers.

Custom designed Sony 6K cameras with PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) capabilities were mounted in and on the cars. The ability of the filmmakers to capture every angle of cars going above 200 mph by remote control achieves a stunningly visceral and immersive experience. Miranda and Kosinski excelled at their creative collaboration on Top Gun: Maverick, where they mounted Sony cameras inside the cockpits to create the film’s spectacular aerial sequences. For F1, their camera systems are even more compact and fluid. Director Kosinski has said the work Sony did with building these cameras will usher in a new generation of cinematic innovation. Beyond James Cameron, it is the rare filmmaker who seeks to expand the technology with each new film. It is a pleasure to see the dedication to the craft embodied in the work of Joseph Kosinski. 

Stephen Mirrione’s editing uses quick cuts to go back and forth from inside the cars, back out to the track, over to the stadiums of fans, and back to the drivers. From the front to the back to the tires at full speed, there isn’t an inch of the racing vehicles that doesn’t find coverage. The edits are swift but not confusing. Mirrone’s work is precise and adds to the furious intensity of the film’s tremendous racing sequences. The hairpin curves and dangerous combat racing tactics will take your breath away. 

Everyone’s incredible work behind the scenes is complemented by the old school score from Hans Zimmer. It has been a while since the composer created a full-bodied score that wasn’t made up of ambient music queues. For this one, Zimmer harkens back to his work on Days of Thunder, crafting a rousing synth and guitar-driven score that equals the power of the Formula One races. 

Brad Pitt is the Robert Redford of his generation. Not just because of his age-defying good looks, but because of his skills as an actor and producer and the movie star magnetism he brings to the screen. As Sonny Hayes, the actor is rugged and intense and finds a natural humor within the character. Next to his Oscar-winning turn in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Pitt has never found a more perfect symmetry of star power and great acting.

Damson Idris holds his own in a role Tom Cruise would have played (and did play) 40 years ago, finding the human traits within the ego-driven Joshua. The film’s sweetest touch is the relationship between the young driver and his mother (Sarah Niles). Their scenes give weight to the character and what drives him. Miles and Idris share the film’s most quietly moving moments. 

Javier Bardem is equally great as Ruben, a role that could have been nothing more than bluster, while the film gives the Apex team the right amount of focus. Kim Bodina is great as Kaspar Molinski, the team’s leader and Kerry Condon is equally good as technical director Kate McKenna, who finds a rapport with Sonny. Watching Kaapar and Kate making split-second decisions in the observation area is as exciting as the races. 

Callie Cooke and Abdul Salis have some good moments as part of the pit crew and Tobias Menzies does well as a dubious board member. 

This film absolutely works and does so in the same way Kosinski made Top Gun: Maverick such a surprising success. The director has an uncanny knack for taking worn out narratives and making them fresh. This is a film we have seen many times before, but you won’t notice. 

Fueled by good performances and innovative filmmaking, F1 is an intense, immersive, and thrilling cinematic entertainment.  

F1

Written by Ehren Kruger & Joseph Kosinski

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Starring Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Kim Bodina, Sarah Niles, Tobias Menzies, Callie Cooke, Abdul Salis

PG-13, Apple Original Films, Warner Brothers, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Plan B Entertainment, Monolith Pictures (III)