F1

F1 is a hyper-styilized, big budget production and they make it feel that way throughout, which is probably the best way to do a movie about the lavish world of racing. The shots, the locations and the music all make the movie shine while Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem carry the bulk of the story, what little there is to be had here. The story is where the movie falls well short of being good because the only two characters I cared for were the two buddies. The young upstart racer in Pearce, the lead tech, neither of them mattered to me in the least. Their stories only really served to flesh out Brad Pitts redemption, and it felt that way, when the characters should have felt more significant. The movie also tried to make the audience feel like they were fighting an uphill battle but every win, every revelation, everything seemed to come relatively easy to the Apex squad. Brad Pitt won over the whole crew in what seemed like minutes, and his strategy of fucking shit up just kept on working. The media didn't like him, then they did, the team sucked, then it didn't. None of it felt earned and that kind of dampened the payoff at the end. Overall though I still enjoyed the movie and I can appreciate it for what it is, the music was wonderful, the race scenes were fun and engaging but in the end I felt like I was watching a big budget Rocky 1 or Mighty Ducks with the same level of cheese. Take Brad Pitt out and I'd probably hate on it, but Brad can do no wrong.