Imagine Top Gun: Maverick but with Formula 1 cars instead of fighter jets and Brad Pitt instead of Tom Cruise. However, minus the nostalgia of TG:M, because F1 isn’t a sequel. A good movie, but not great.

Another commonality between F1 and TG:M is director Joseph Kosinski, who also co-wrote. Kosinski probably wasn’t on many people’s radar before TG:M. His previous work includes Oblivion and Tron: Legacy, which were less than impressive–plus a slew of things I’ve never heard of, but now, with these two successes, he might be worth keeping an eye on.

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Acting

There’s nothing in Brad Pitt’s character that requires him to dig deep into his exceptionally diverse set of acting skills, but that’s why Pitt is ideal for this role. Many actors would need to go full speed to pull off the confidence and competence of the character Sonny Hayes, whereas Pitt manages that level of confidence effortlessly, without putting his foot to the floor.

Damson Idris did everything required for his character Joshua Pearce. He gave just enough to make his character feel like a real person, which is hard to do when performing in the shadow of Brad Pitt.

Javier Bardem didn’t have a large role, but of course did exactly what was needed for his character. And for once, it’s nice to see Javier in the role of a genuinely good guy. I haven’t seen every movie Javier has ever been in, but it seems like he often has very complex characters. Not so in this role.

Finally, I’d like to mention Kim Bodnia. He’s one of those actors you see around a lot, but never gets noticed. If you’ve watched Killing Eve you’ll know him as Konstantin. Honestly, Bodnia has one of the most dramatic scenes in the entire movie, but I’m sure that few will really notice. It’s when he’s being interviewed with the other crew bosses. He starts out feeling confident and happy to be a part of an interview panel. But as the other crew bosses speak, we see him humiliated, without saying a word. There’s a lot of meat in that scene. I could imagine this same movie could be told from his POV and it would be interesting. Not as good, but interesting. So kudos to Bodnia making the most out of a little.

Music

Hans Zimmer created the original soundtrack for this movie, so that couldn’t be better. In the off chance that Hans reads this, I wanted to say that I see what you did there, with the playful theme that draws inspiration from True Romance. Besides the fact that Zimmer can create such memorable epic themes for the likes of Gladiator, Superman, and countless others. He can also pull out something that is fun and playful that sounds nothing like his other work.

Racing Authenticity

Kosinski and his team clearly did their homework. The racing sequences feel authentic without being overly technical for casual viewers. The camera work during races strikes the right balance—close enough to feel the speed and danger, but not so frenetic that you lose track of what’s happening. Unlike some racing films that rely heavily on CGI, the practical racing footage gives weight to the action.

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The other stuff

This was a surprisingly long movie, at 2 hours and 35 minutes. (Minus 7 minutes for the end credits.) But to me, it never felt like it was dragging. It was a tight story that kept moving along at a reasonable pace. If there were one criticism, it might be that some of the montages could have been cut down just a little. However, montages are our best friends here at RunPee. They tend to make ideal Peetimes, so I’ll never complain about the length of the number of montages in a movie.

If I were going to nit-pick on one single thing, it’s that the contrast between race cars wasn’t very noticeable. In a few of the scenes, we have the APX team (Sonny and Joshua) vs another team, but all of the cars’ dominant color is black. So it was sometimes confusing in the shots that included multiple cars to figure out which was which. I’m not sure why they didn’t just make the other team’s car red so that it stood out from the APX cars.

Writing

First, let me say that the writing for this movie is outstanding. Each of the primary characters is given enough definition that it feels like we’re watching real people instead of actors. And there are few, if any, surprises. This isn’t the kind of movie where characters have hidden agendas, except for that one, which is of no consequence.

There are two ways that a writer can take a story and their characters: make the audience wish they were that character, or inspire the audience to be like a character. It’s not just either or, there’s a spectrum between those two.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the character of Sonny and where he falls on this spectrum. First, he’s portrayed by Brad Pitt, so right away there’s a wish I was that handsome. But, besides that, the character Sonny is described as the nobody who never was. He’s the guy full of potential who is reaching the end of his career, putting aside his previous failures and seeking inner peace and satisfaction. He’s finally starting to reach that potential. For many people, there is real psychological pain in realizing they’re not happy today, and wondering how many different ways things could have gone.

Sonny is the guy who failed when he was young, injured, failed at everything for a decade and then finally found some inner wisdom to begin rebuilding his life. He has no relationships with a wife or children that prevent him from living out of a van and fulfilling his dreams. Plus, Sonny is ultra confident, but not cocky. He’s supremely competent but admits to mistakes.

There’s also the way the romance is handled in this movie. We live in a different day and age than when Maverick followed Charlie into the women’s bathroom and hit on her. That just doesn’t fly anymore. In this movie, Sonny makes his interest known, and then backs off. There’s no chasing or desperate attempts at wooing. That would be humiliating for Sonny and could be creepy to Kate–his romantic interest.

The romance is handled in a way that is satisfying to a post-#MeToo world and is empowering to both parties. Achieving this requires deftness in writing. Kudos to Joseph Kosinski for pulling that off. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next. I can see on his IMDb page that he has another Bruckheimer/Apple project and then Miami Vice. That tracks.

Second Act Wisdom

F1 arrives at a time when audiences are hungry for stories about second chances and finding purpose later in life. Sonny’s journey isn’t about proving he’s still young—it’s about using hard-earned wisdom to finally achieve what talent alone couldn’t deliver. In an era where we’re constantly told our best years are behind us after 30, there’s something deeply satisfying about watching someone find their groove in their 50s.

Grade: B+

If you liked this…

If you enjoyed F1, you might also like Ford v Ferrari for its character-driven racing drama, or Netflix’s Drive to Survive series for real F1 behind-the-scenes action. For the mentor-student dynamic, Top Gun: Maverick obviously shares DNA

About The Peetimes: The first and last Peetimes are really good, mostly montages. The second Peetime isn’t horrible.

There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of F1: The Movie.

Plot
A Formula One driver comes out of retirement to mentor and team up with a younger driver.