F1 The Movie Review

[Jericoke]

F1 The Movie Review   

It is very very very important to note that this movie is Hollywood entertainment, and not a documentary.  It’s not a shut your brain off adventure spectacle, but you have to keep in mind that the things that happen are there to advance the characters and story, not accurately reflect exactly how F1 works.

The central conflict is that an F1 team MUST win a race, or they will be sold off and everyone will lose their job.  As an F1 fan, I know that no one expects an F1 team to win within 3 years of their creation.  Similarly, when a team is sold, the employees are the value, so aside from some key management positions, no one is fighting for their job.  As a Hollywood story though?  It’s great, there’s real stakes for everyone involved:  turning  a losing organization into a winning one… or else.

Next up we have Brad Pitt as a 50s race car driver, when modern F1 drivers are mostly teenagers or in their mid 20s.  It’s not impossible to have a driver that age, but as an F1 fan it’s very unlikely (also the premise that 8 other drivers were offered the opportunity and passed on it!!!!)  Again, as a Hollywood story, it’s actually very interesting.  Someone with unfinished business, who has had racing success everywhere he goes, bringing maturity and stability to a team that is unravelling.

Any racing fan will tell you that no matter how good the drivers are, without a good car, there’s nothing they can do.  So again, in true Hollywood fashion, the team’s car is the worst of the worst, last place across the board.  In modern F1, there’s just nothing to do about that.  There are limitations of budget and design regulations and while a car can be improved, a last place car becoming a competitive car in the span of a month is laughable.  Yet in terms of Hollywood magic, the idea that someone can come up with a novel design strategy that no one has ever thought of and create a much faster car is an absolute joy to watch.

The last bit of Hollywood ‘magic’ that will offend any race fan is that the team starts getting results using tactics that have seen people banned from the sport.  It wasn’t just dangerous, but potentially deadly.  F1 has taken these things very seriously for about a decade now.  The team is given a slap on the wrist, but in the real world it would get lifetime bans.  I understand the Hollywood ‘scrappy underdog’ archetype, so just as a fan have to watch it from this point of view. 

With the Hollywoodisms out of the way, how is the movie, as a movie?

It is… good. 

The racing action is immersive, they filmed on F1 race weekends, with the participation of the F1 teams and drivers of the time.  It really does feel like watching snippets of a real race, not something staged.  I don’t feel like it matches Ford vs Ferrari as making feel like we’re in the cars, nor is the racing the focus of the movie.  It does an excellent job of making us feel we’re in a movie set in the world of F1, but it’s not a movie about F1 racing.

The main storyline is great.  It’s the trope of the ‘veteran’ athlete coming in to mentor the ‘rookie’ athlete.  While there are some familiar story beats (I don’t need an old mentor/the kid won’t listen to me), there is more variety, twists and turns as the characters actually behave like human beings.  I believe having F1 drivers involved in the movie helped ensure that the character development made sense AS DRIVERS with egos.

The supplementary story lines are little half baked though.  The love story isn’t relevant at all, it either needs to be filled out, provide some conflict, or just dropped entirely. Minor characters are given a moment, but with no real purpose.  The team owner is played by Javier Bardem as a former racer turned owner, but we never feel like he’s either a driver or an owner struggling.  He’s just there to set things on the way.  The team principal, in effect the buck stops here guy, he’s got the most to lose of anyone, but doesn’t have very much agency in the story.  One of the mechanics makes a big mistake and then… doesn’t.  It feels like she’s got a lot more story, she needed more, or less, but not what she got.

Overall, it’s a great Hollywood story.  F1 is a team sport, and the team has to come together before they’re torn apart.  The acting is great.  The action is enjoyable.  The writing is fine.  Aside from the Hollywoodisms, and a little bit of bloated/meaningless subplots it’s very enjoyable.

In the canon of ‘racing movies’, it’s not about racers the way Ford Vs Ferrari is.  It’s not about Formula 1 drivers in personal combat the way that Rush is.  It’s not even about a struggling racer taking his last chance like ‘Days of Thunder’ is.  Sadly I must admit I’ve never seen Grand Prix to compare it with that.

One final thought, I feel that, storywise, if the movie was to take place as a period piece in the 1970s, where teams WOULD come and go on a whim, that technical innovation could radically change a team from race to race, and even dangerous tactics were much more part of the sport, it would have felt much more accurate.  Of course, you lose out on the main thrust of the movie being part of modern F1.

[John S]

Nice review Jeri, however you've given more than half dozen reasons for me not to watch it. 

Disappointment in GG is one thing, I'm used to that, paying cash only to be disappointed seems a tough call. 

[cosworth151]

Nice review Jeri, however you've given more than half dozen reasons for me not to watch it. 

Disappointment in GG is one thing, I'm used to that, paying cash only to be disappointed seems a tough call. 

I'm going to split the difference - I'm going to see it on Tuesday (senior citizen discount day) 

Most of the reviews I've read are lukewarm at best.

[Jericoke]

Nice review Jeri, however you've given more than half dozen reasons for me not to watch it. 

Disappointment in GG is one thing, I'm used to that, paying cash only to be disappointed seems a tough call. 

Look at it like this:  X-Wings don't make sound in space, but we like Star Wars.  Tom Cruise is strapped to the plane, not hanging on for dear life and we still like Mission Impossible.  Once you accept that unreal things happen to tell an interesting story, you can enjoy it.  (Now, to be fair, it's not the BEST story out there, but it's not bad either.  I feel like Pitt's character and the rookie character have an authenticity in their story that racing fans can appreciate)

[John S]

I appears this F1 movie might be resonating well with non F1 crowd from first weekend box office receipts, which I believe is your assertion in picking up on Hollywood mainstream focus on storyline & dialogue in your review, Jeri. 

Lord only knows what the audience figures will go to when it drops on Apple TV. 

Looks like Lewis' investment as a producer might turn a handsome profit.   

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1075582/1/f1-movie-races-nearly-150-million-box-office

[Dare]

I think I'd just as soon pull out a dvd of Grand Prix and watch it. If t comes
on a streaming site where I can watch it free I'll do that

[cosworth151]

I went to a private showing this morning (I was the only 1 to show up for the 9:30 am geezer discount HD showing    )

It was better than I expected. Not in a class with Grand Prix or LeMans but a fun summer escapist flick.

2 things to watch for:

1: Lewis's bulldog Roscoe show up in a crowd scene @ Silverstone.  Look for the  LH monograms on his harness.

2: Watch the end credits for the list of real F1 notables who did cameos in the movie & see how many you spotted.  And,  yes, Roscoe is on the list.

[Dare]

Now ut for home view or purchase

https://www.planetf1.com/news/brad-pitt-f1-movie-streaming-heres-how-to-watch