If Formula 1 cars are a beautiful mesh of man and machine, Brad Pitt is as close to perfection in flesh and bones. Put one in the other, and you have a film that whirs by briskly – almost making you forget there is nothing much under the hood. Pitt’s character Sonny Hayes is one of those natural born racers who cares little about money and trophies, after having had his brush with rash adventure in his callow youth, that ended in a near-fatal crash. The long recovery, a stint with gambling, a rash of failed relationships, to this new state of Zen, including living happily out of a van, must have cost Sonny some blood, sweat and tears. However, F1, made with the blessing of Formula 1 organisers and the producer tag of Lewis Hamilton, is not interested in the dark side at all – even the underside, when corners are cut on safety in a car in pursuit of speed.
So just when Sonny is beatifically pondering what back-of-beyond race he can participate in next – the kind advertised on flyers distributed at laundromats – in walks old friend Ruben (Bardem). He is now an F1 team owner and he offers Sonny a shot at being world champion, 30 years after he messed it up.
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Sonny, for all his cool detachment, is easily persuaded to slide back into the hot seat. What follows are a series of excitable and exciting races, where we go from the start to the finish in a strictly straight line, with no surprise turns.
There is a rookie talent, Joshua Pearce (Idris), who is just the kind of hothead who could do with Sonny’s guiding hand at the wheel. There is the team’s technical director – the first-ever woman at the job – Kate (Condon), who is just waiting for a man like Sonny to walk into her life. And there is the dedicated team, just primed for Sonny to morph them into a winning unit. Except for Joshua, no one even pushes back at this Johnny Come Lately’s brusque takeover.
Pitt has perfected looking and playing a superstar who is getting older but not really ageing, and F1 is as much in awe of him as we are. So at every turn we are reminded about how Sonny does things differently than Joshua, including jogging instead of gymming, flicking cards instead of doing media, studying races instead of social media profiles, and wearing mismatched socks instead of being groomed to perfection. By the time he goes ahead and tells Joshua to “Get off your phone… It’s all noise”, the message has been well and truly drilled home.
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But come on, we are talking of Pitt here, and races that are meant to stop your heart and dare you to blink your eyes. The director-writer team of Kosinski and Ehren Kruger, also behind 2022’s top-billed Top Gun: Maverick, know this part well. The races are expensive and expansive edge-of-the seat stuff, all about wind drag, cold and warm tires, corners and speeding, hedging and betting, and strategy, strategy, strategy. The breathless commentary ensures even the uninitiated can follow what’s happening over endless laps.
You will come away wanting more of Formula 1 and, yes, more of Pitt. Given his pensive drive into the sunset, your wait may be just a Pitt stop away.
