Car Watch: F1 - The Movie (2025)

Watched:  06/21/2026

Format:  AppleTV

Viewing:  Second

Director:  Joseph Kosinski

So, I watched F1: The Movie (2025) a year ago in the theater.  It was an enjoyable movie that was about car racing and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer - so I figured I knew what I was getting, and I was right.  And that is not a complaint.  When I go to Chili's for dinner, I do not complain when the Old Timer with Cheese is the Old Timer with Cheese.

F1: The Movie stars a hot dude who is the best at what he does, but our hero is *also* a troubled rogue.  In this way, he is Maverick from Top Gun.  And, really, this movie is a scramble of beats from Top Gun and basic movie formulas of a certain era for which middle-aged men apparently yearn.  F1: the Movie also features the bonus of being about an old gun fighter showing the new kid on the block what it's all about in order to really satisfy us aging movie-dudes.  

That said: imagine - a movie where someone's age provides wisdom and experience as a thing of value instead of making them a blocker for our young hero and their crazy, new, and actually correct ideas?

But, yeah, a 50+ year-old Sonny (Brad Pitt) is winning races and being awesome in relative obscurity when he's called up to Top Gun F1.  No Tom Skerrit here, we have Javier Bardem in suits that cost more than my car.  

No one likes Sonny's crazy ways as he bucks the system and is seemingly indifferent to authority, but his actual effectiveness makes the sexy lady technical expert want to sleep with him (where have I seen that before?).  After a tragedy with his partner, he comes back and blows up MiGs wins a race.  Music swells.

If this were the final Bruckheimer movie, I'd be fine with that.  What better avatar for Bruckheimer than someone living irresponsibly who just keeps showing up when everyone is pretty sure they should be dead from their actions 30 years ago?  And seeing that guy disappear into the west coast sunset?  Chef's kiss.

I know I'm kidding around, but the movie is *fine*.  Was it worthy of being a Best Picture nominee?  Well... I don't care.  Sure.  Why not?  This is why we now allow 25 different movies to get nominated.  And, movies like F1 that feel like the movies we grew up on but are now about older guys being rad  gives the now crinkly old guys in charge a fantasy about how young men will look up to them and give them a thumbs-up of cool-guy approval (and while we're at it - a hot woman over 40 will still think you're a viable sexual partner).

It's still a fun movie with clunky-as-hell dialog but neat racing stuff.  Best to just sit back and enjoy it for the cheeseburger and fries that it is.