Review: F1

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

A sign of a good movie is when a topic of little interest to the viewer still makes for a compelling watch. Such is the case of Joseph Kosinki's "F1," a Formula 1 racing movie about a formerly washed-up driver, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), who returns to racing to help out a friend, Ruben (Javier Bardem), whose team is struggling to stay relevant and ends up clashing with his young hotshot teammate, Joshua (Damson Idris).

Sound familiar? If you think this sounds a little like the blockbuster hit "Top Gun: Maverick," you'd be correct and you might not be surprised to learn that this film is directed by the same person. As for the subject matter, I'll admit to having no interest in professional racing. Cinematically, it has resulted in one decent film ("Days of Thunder") as well as a mediocre one ("Driven") and an overrated satire ("Talladega Nights").

Kosinski's film doesn't reinvent the wheel here or do anything radical to shake up the sports genre. Instead, he does what so many summer blockbusters fail to do these days - develop interesting characters - and even goes so far as to making this the prime feature of the film. As such, "F1" is pretty compelling.

Sonny was once a rising star in the world of racing. As a young hotshot driver, he was known for his reckless style of racing, which ultimately led to an accident that derailed his career. Since then, he has bounced around in various driving stints - we're told he was a New York City cab driver at one point - but the big time has always eluded him.

His friend Ruben, another former race car driver, shows up with a desperate plea: One of his two drivers is out for the season and he needs someone to fill in. Sonny later learns he was only eighth choice in this scenario. But he accepts the offer and immediately clashes with Joshua, an arrogant young driver who clearly has his eyes on bigger things than the APXGP team that he's currently on. Needless to say, the team is not having a good season.

You probably won't be too surprised to see where this all leads, but suffice it to say that the film makes up for its lack of originality with some terrific camerawork amid the nauseatingly fast-paced race sequences. This is a good looking film.

More importantly, the picture boasts a sturdy lead performance by Pitt, one of filmdom's last true movie stars, and has a great supporting cast. Bardem is always a welcome addition to any cast and Kerry Condon, who was so good in "The Banshees of Inisherin," is a scene stealer as Kate, the team's feisty technical director. Idris is solid as Joshua and Sarah Niles makes her small role as Joshua's no-nonsense mother count.

I've missed a number of this year's summer movies (and will likely play catch up on streaming), but a majority of them haven't caused a whole lot of excitement, namely because they are sequels, reboots, or additions to cinematic universes that seem unnecessary. While I'm not saying anyone needed a Formula 1 racing movie, this is a pretty good one. It's fast paced, well shot and edited, and includes a cast that develops characters you care about. For a summer blockbuster, that's typically more than you can hope for.