F1 The Movie bombs with the critics – For over two years, fans of Formula One have been awaiting the much vaunted movie about their sport starring Brad Pitt. With Lewis Hamilton offering advice as an executive producer, director Jospeh Kosinski stated from the off his effort would attempt to make the on track action as realistic as possible.
The opening night in New York was a glitzy affair, as was to be expected, and Brad Pitt (61) was accompanied but his girlfriend Ines de Ramon (32) who was dressed in a virginal white bridal inspired outfit, which revealed her busty cleavage and midriff along with plenty of leg on display partly sheathed by a feather sheer white skirt.
Intentions behind Ramon’s look will not have been lost on Angelina Jolie, who only recently settled a messy eight year long divorce with the Oscar winning actor. Pitt himself appeared to shed the look of of a man suffering a mid-life crisis wearing a simple navy suit while clutching the proverbial sunglasses in one hand.
Sonny Hayes a projection for Pitt’s own life
In the movie Pitts character Sonny Hayes at times appeared to be based on a projection written by the actor himself, as his rage and reckless behaviour was weaved into what became a loveable rogue. It felt like some kind of damage control by Pitts PR people following the numerous allegations made against him by those close to Angelina Jolie over the last decade.
As far as the action is concerned, maybe never has the visceral feel of racing cars ever been son realistic but as critic Ian Sandwell (Digital Spy) concluded, it was “an empty spectacle. You can appreciate the craft on display in the driving sequences, but it’s hard to be fully invested when you don’t care about the characters in them.”
Yet at times it felt like F1 for children and simpletons, as the narration of the movie persisted with voicing each and every of Sonny’s motivations. The narrative from the TV commentary on the racing insisted on doing the same as though the drama itself was incapable of telling the story.
Times critic, Kevin Maher said, “This big-budget racing movie looks fabulous, but it also plays out like a two-and-a-half-hour advert for the sport.” The $300m cost to make the movie is kind of typical of F1 culture where the more eye-watering the financials, the better everything should be.
McLaren driver saw Russell deliberately try to get Verstappen penalised
Characterisation and Plot both weak
The San Francisco Chronicle summarise the plot well explaining: “Pitt plays iconoclastic former next-big-thing Sonny Hayes, now living just fine out of his surfer van, casually winning the Daytona 500. When old friend and rival Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem, in a series of remarkably handsome suits) shows up to recruit him for the struggling Formula One team he owns, Sonny’s lured by the brassiest of rings that once was in reach so many years ago. (For the uninitiated, F1 is the highest class of its kind, with $16 million cars reaching speeds over 200 mph.)”
Sonny must mentor Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) who is overly concerned with his image to make the leap from being a run of a mill driver to an all time great and with just nine races remaining in the season Ruben’s job as team boss is on the line should Joshua fail to win at least one race. Yet Ruben is not a particularly well crafted character and the intensity the movie brings is not about the crucial matter of saving some guy’s job, but in the on track action shot with technology never used before in a movie.
Joshua’s character appears to take some of its leave from the young Lewis Hamilton – a young hothead, who cares only about himself. But this is hardly an engaging tale to tell and reflects a character’s from a number of other sport’s movies as critic Michael Ordoña penned, “If that sounds like Bull Durham, Major League,The Longest Yard, The Natural or many other sports movies, there are clear echoes. The plot and character types are very much last year’s model. The differences are the particulars of Formula One and Kosinski’s glossy packaging. Whereas those films have a broken-down, harmonica-playing vibe, ‘F1”’makes even a jalopy like Sonny sleek. Think honky tonk vs. Daft Punk.”
This its’t really a movie for F1 fans who live and breath the sport each week and understand the true nature of scripted drama. Yet for non-racer fans there is some interest in how Sonny bends the rules along with Kate the car designer to eek out more lap time.
Technical genius of the cinematography recognised
Jake Coyle of APNews writes: “Whether “F1” pleases diehards I’ll leave to more ardent followers of the circus. But what I can say definitively is that Claudio Miranda knows how to shoot it. The cinematographer, who has shot all of Kosinski’s films as well as wonders like And Lee’s Life of Pi brings Formula One to vivid, visceral life. When “F1” heads to the big races, Miranda is always simultaneously capturing the zooming cars from the asphalt while backgrounding it with the sweeping spectacle of a course like the UK’s fabled Silverstone circuit.”
Apple’s track record with big theatrical budget films is not that great and the $300m budget cold be tough to recover. Recruiting Pitt as the lead actor is designed to appeal to non-F1 fans as the potentially critical F1 fan base alone does not make this movie a good financial bet.
An expensive watch as IMAX is a must
On the brighter side, Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian writes: “There’s a fair bit of macho silliness here, but the panache with which director Joseph Kosinski puts it together is very entertaining.” Clearly a fan of Kosinski’s work, Sophie Baxter of Empire Magazine is enthralled. “Joseph Kosinski has done it again. F1 combines unparalleled access, pioneering filmmaking and moving redemption arcs to deliver an exhilarating cinematic experience. What will he attach a camera to next?”
This is a common theme amongst the critics most enamoured by the movie making as Roger Kojder of flickering movies concludes. “It’s not a stretch to say that racing has never felt more real, immersive, exhilarating, and sensorial than in F1: The Movie.”
Racefans website’s collection of critics gave F1 The Movie an average score of 64%. It appears to fully appreciate Kosinski capabilities to bolt cameras onto planes, train and automobiles, this will hit movie goers pockets harder as it is a must watch in IMAX.
FIA stewards bend the rules in Canada
The Canadian Grand Prix was a highly anticipated event following the on track antics which had taken place the race before in Barcelona. The feud between George Russell and Max Verstappen had been re-ignited at the Spanish Grand Prix when the Mercedes driver forced Verstappen off the track at turn one.
Ironically Russell attempted a move for which Verstappen has been much criticised – the classic dive bomb down the inside – to claim the apex of the corner. Yet the British driver miscalculated his braking, lost control the car momentarily and hit Verstappen – who was forced to take to the escape route and rejoined ahead his rival on track.
Red Bull decided given the tightness of the field following a safety car restart meant should the stewards make another of their erratic decisions and penalise Max, it would be prudent to tell their driver to relinquish the place to Russell and mitigate a decision that Verstappen had left the track and gained an advantage.
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