F1: The Movie is a corporate conglomerate on cinematic wheels. There is no end to the things that the movie is selling: the sponsors whose logos or commodities appear in nearly every frame; the global locations where the races take place; the sport itself. The primary product, however, is the star presence of Brad Pitt. In this case, I’m not buying. His Sonny Hayes — a has-been driver hired by a flailing Formula One team out of desperation — is a hoary cliche, lazily envisioned and written. More disappointingly (and surprisingly), he’s embodied by a charmless, smug Pitt performance. Director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick, this movie’s obvious model) offers endless racing scenes, each one given nonsensical subplots in hopes of making them distinguishable from one another. The overall effect, however, is that of being forced to binge-watch an eight-episode Netflix series about Formula One in a single sitting.
(1/28/2026)
