F1: The Movie

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Expectation: 😴

Reality: 🤯

I’m not into racing. My favorite racing movie is 2003’s Disney Channel Original, Right On Track, starring Brie Larson and Beverly Mitchell. (Yes, that Brie Larson, and if you haven’t seen this movie, you need to.)

That said, I was completely blown away by F1: The Movie.

Everyone loves an underdog story, and I don’t believe that if you’ve see one you’ve seen ‘em all because they taught us in film school that every story has already been told; it’s our job to find a new way to tell it. This is a new way to tell it, and it’s great!

Brad Pitt is a star, we know this, but Damson Idris is one to watch!! He and Javier Bardem were perfect choices cast opposite Pitt. The entire cast did a great job, it really felt like they were a team.

It didn’t feel too short or too long, the runtime was used wisely. I enjoyed it more and more as time went on.

The story took a minute to grip me but it once it did, it held on. I wanted to be a member of the team—to go on the morning runs and be part of the post-race group hugs.

Visually, the film is stunning.

I docked half a star for some racing jargon that wasn’t totally explained so I didn’t quite understand what was going on, and half a star for not getting enough insight into the lives of the other characters. The film revolves around Pitt’s Sonny Hayes and I was invested in his journey, but I only got to know the other characters in relation to the part they played in Sonny’s story or the way they grew and changed from knowing him. This made it difficult to care when he wasn’t front & center. I wanted him to win, but kind of shrugged if someone else’s fate was up in the air.

As a huge Simone Ashley fan, I’ll address the various complaints online that she was cut out of the film: I can confirm that she only appears once for a 2-second freeze frame. This film is almost exactly 2.5 hours long, so I imagine it was much longer and difficult to cut down. It makes sense they would remove a full character/story arc rather than cut bits and pieces from each story to make sure that the overall narrative is cohesive.

Overall, F1 is a great movie. If sport isn’t your genre but you love a good story, give it a chance.