With a colossal budget and a star behind the wheel, Joseph Kosinski's film struggles to get off the ground. Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and Formula 1 aren't enough to stir the emotions.
A successful technical immersion but a broken scenario
On paper, F1® The Movie had everything going for it: legendary circuits, Brad Pitt at the height of his nonchalant style, the presence of Damson Idris as an arrogant young prodigy, and above all a realism rarely achieved in cinema. Co-produced by Lewis Hamilton, the film was shot on real Grand Prix tracks – Silverstone, Monza, Suzuka and Las Vegas – with customized cars and cameras integrated into the cockpits. Joseph Kosinski, who had already directed Top Gun: Maverick, gives a real dynamic to the racing scenes, which impress with their nervousness and sensory rendering.
But while the direction is impressive, the narrative engine is running on empty. The screenplay, centered on the return of a legendary pilot (Pitt) who has come to mentor a rising star (Idris), struggles to rise above the clichés. The plot seems straight out of a 1990s film, replete with testosterone-fueled scenes and virile rivalries. The flatly written dialogue and barely sketched secondary characters (despite the presence of Javier Bardem and a few underutilized female roles) never allow the story to take off emotionally.
Brad Pitt at the starting line, but not at the finish
The 61-year-old actor is physically impressive: according to the director, he himself has driven cars at nearly 300 km/h, and received two offers from GT teams (comments reported by La Tribune Dimanche). But his performance seems frozen in the stance of a worn-out old cowboy, attractive but hollow. Opposite, Damson Idris does a little better in the role of the arrogant young man in search of maturity, but his narrative arc remains predictable from start to finish.
On the technical side, Hans Zimmer's music attempts to breathe new life into the film, but the heavily didactic editing (with commentary explaining racing strategies) detracts from the immersion. We'd rather be carried along by the engines than by these dialogues about hard or soft tires.
Despite its resources—$300 million according to La Tribune Dimanche—F1® The film lacks heart. It's more like a luxurious docu-spectacle than a real movie. While Lewis Hamilton promised "a meeting between cinema and F1" with a realistic rendering, the result lacks the essential: a story that holds water and characters who excite something other than the circuits.
