F1
Listen I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know the actual sport of F1 all that well tbh I’m kinda like that dude on the board that was like “watched drive to survive and loved it” but on the other hand, I do watch a lot of movies, so I feel good about saying that I think this was a really good movie, all be it, very safe.
Now safe isn’t a bad thing necessarily. We all watch movies for different reasons, and for some they want to go to a movie and have a picture painted of a world they don’t know but would like to see a glimpse into, and I think this movie is a very classic example of that. The plot is not very complicated, and besides from interacting with our two main racers, we don’t see any side characters really have substance on their own (although Javier Bardem is really solid and good comedic and drama balance)
What this movie does is showcase the world of F1 through a basic plot and premise, and again I actually think this works extremely well. The world of F1 is a bit mysterious, even more so for Americans who haven’t been exposed to it like its one of the major sports all their lives, and like my amazing girlfriend said after she first watched it “I want to understand how it works more”
The movie dances through slower, more boring F1 shenanigans such as qualifying, and they allow the in the movie to explain a lot of the more interesting stuff in F1 such as tires, advanced car adaptations, and to race a track. There is also this really great focus on the pit from the principal even down to a random wheel spinner person (?), which does make the movie feel more grandiose, knowing that every single person on a racing team impacts winning in someway is extremely dope to see play out in a movie.
The two leads, Pitt and Idris are both really great, in the best way I can describe it, the dynamic of the racers feels like how I’d imagine the dynamic can be for the actors, in terms of you got this legacy dude with Pitt, and this up and comer with Idris. It works, and they are both great, and some of brads best face acting ever comes from the driving scenes, which are easily the best part of the movie.