In a fleeting moment, Academy Award winners Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem are the best in the world as F1 races into theaters everywhere on Friday, June 26th, 2025. It’s been a decade and a half since Brad Pitt’s venture into sports movies produced one of the few that successfully deviated from the general storyline trope of the genre when his nominated performance in Moneyball reminded folks why they’re romantic about baseball, though, F1 doesn’t go to a ‘Plan C,’ it follows formula number one of sports movies, and in this case, it’s why it works.
The plot itself is like any sporting movie: an old gunslinger gets a shot at redemption while feuding with a rookie that the old-school, hard-nose veteran believes is too arrogant for his own good. Not only does F1 follow the letters in front of the Formula One backdrop, it owns that it follows the tropes. In fact, one could argue that the point of the movie was to follow the tropes. The idea that F1 the movie was going to do anything other than glorify the gratification of winning a Grand Prix was at best naive, at worst foolish, and the story of the veteran coming full circle to accomplish his goals was always to be endgame from the moment the project was announced.
However, racecars are loud. Racecars are cool. F1’s schedule, team-style autoracing provides for a fascinating dichotomy of strategy on the track. Crashes are violent. All of this allows Joseph Kosinski, the same technical master behind Top Gun: Maverick, to deliver another look at cinematic chaos. Armed with a Hans Zimmer score as good as ever, loaded soundtrack with guitar riffs ranging from Brian May to Jimmy Page, and state of the art technology, Kosinski’s view on the world of F1 may not be the most realistic, but it’s by far the most exhilarating for a general audience that may carry limited interest in racing.
Through it all, Brad Pitt feels as much of a movie star in F1 in 2025 as he did in 2001 with Ocean’s Eleven. Pitt’s Sonny Hayes balances a thin line between being right and being dirty, regularly clashing with both female technician Kate, played by Academy Award nominee Kerry Condon, and Joshua Pearce, played by Snowfall’s Damson Idris. The driving force of the desperation for the feuding team is that of Bardem’s Ruben, franchise owner on the verge of selling the team due to a lack of success.
To refrain spoiler-free, TWM will not go into further detail on the film. However, this is a crowd pleaser that demands to be seen on the largest screen with the loudest of sound systems. Jerry Bruckheimer has once again produced the blockbuster of the summer. It’s not a film that’s going to win awards for screenplays, but it’s competently carried by an excellent cast, aided by technical marvels behind the camera, and delivers the thrill of a race at theater. F1 opens everywhere on Friday, June 26th. It is also playing in IMAX, Dolby Cinemas, and RPX where available.
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