Latest news with #AppleFilms
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'FI' just won the box office. Meet the man who's cracked the blockbuster code.
He's the man behind your favorite summer blockbusters: Top Gun: Maverick, Twisters and now F1: The Movie. With heart-pounding action, A-list stars and a commitment to realistic spectacle, Joseph Kosinski has quietly become one of Hollywood's most reliable hitmakers. F1 zoomed into theaters this past weekend with an impressive $55.6 million domestic debut and a $144 million total haul, marking the biggest global opening of leading man Brad Pitt's career and the first commercial win for Apple Films. Kosinski doesn't just create summer blockbusters; he builds worlds at 200 miles per hour, and audiences can't get enough. But while horsepower is pivotal, the real fuel behind the films is heart, Kosinski revealed in a conversation ahead of his latest film's release. "I grew up in the '80s and '90s, going to the movies, and I think I'm trying to recreate that big screen experience that I had as a kid," he told Yahoo, praising directors Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. "Those are the experiences I remember seeing on the big screen," he said. "I approach [blockbusters] from the point of view of: what would I want to see if I went to the movies? Selfishly, what's a world that I want to dive into and live in for a few years? I got to create this incredible scenario where I have a Formula One team for two seasons and travel the world with Brad Pitt as my lead driver." F1 follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), a retired driver coaxed back into racing by an old friend and former teammate (Javier Bardem) to help a struggling Formula One team. While driving for the fictional underdog APXGP, Hayes mentors young rising star Joshua Pearce, played by actor Damson Idris. The film is a blast: the racing scenes are thrilling, the settings are realistic and flashy and the actors' performances are great, with Pitt in the driver's seat, charming as ever. While F1 is action-packed, it feels both massive in scale and personal as you root for the characters. You don't need to know anything about Formula One to get pulled in. Positive word of mouth and good reviews should keep F1 holding strong at the box office over the holiday weekend, much like Kosinski's last two hits. It's no secret Hollywood loves a franchise, and we love watching them. Top Gun: Maverick was a sequel more than three decades in the making, while Twisters was a reboot. Both had built-in audiences. Those were career highlights for Kosinski, but in a landscape dominated by existing IP, he said it was freeing to develop F1 as an original story. "It's fun to be able to create a character from scratch, which we're able to do here, for an audience to meet all new people. There's no canon. There's no history we need to stick to. We get to start with a blank sheet of paper and take people on a ride learning about Sonny Hayes, APXGP and the world of Formula One," he said. Still, building something new from the ground up came with its own set of challenges. It wasn't casting a big name — "Brad said this was a movie that he had been looking for his whole career and was never able to find or put together" — it was convincing Formula One to let them shoot from inside the sport's most guarded spaces. "Formula One is a very tightly controlled, closed system. To be open to us not only making a film about them, but to make it from inside their organization and shooting at the races ... was a huge ask," he said. Authenticity is key to Kosinski's formula. In Top Gun: Maverick, U.S. Navy pilots flew the actors on top-of-the-line fighter jets. He needed similar access for F1 in order to get the same level of realism that audiences responded to in Maverick. "We were able to get inside and actually shoot at real races, shoot on the track and make all the people that are in the sport part of our film," he explained. That immersive approach didn't stop at the script or the setting; it also meant putting Pitt behind the wheel. "He was all in," Kosinski confirmed. "By the end of the film, we could not get him out of the car. He was having way too much fun." There's a pivotal moment shot at the Belgian Grand Prix, which features one of the sport's most dangerous corners. Pitt couldn't hide his excitement, which was a problem given the context of the scene. 'It's called Eau Rouge ... and every time Brad went through that corner, he had a big smile,' Kosinski recalled. 'I had to remind him over the radio that it was a tense scene, and please, do not smile as you go through it. He had a blast shooting this movie — and lucky for me, he was just a natural talent when it came to driving. That was something that you really can't teach. He kind of had that from the beginning, and that's how we were able to pull this all off.' Of course, no summer blockbuster is complete without a little heat, and in F1, that spark comes from the tension between Sonny and the team's technical director Kate McKenna, played by Kerry Condon. "I really wanted Kerry's character to be an integral part of the plot," Kosinski said. "Which is why she's the team technical director, right at the center of everything.' But Kosinski shared that it was crucial not to force a romantic storyline. "It's got to be integral to the story," he insisted. The dynamic between driver and engineer gave the director a natural way to build some chemistry. 'When a Formula One team is losing, the drivers tend to blame the car, and the engineers tend to blame the driver,' he continued. 'I thought that was a great place of tension to start a relationship from — and see how they work through their workplace differences to find a connection.' On the surface, it may seem like Kosinski's secret sauce is simple: movie stars, action and a splash of romance. But there's always something deeper under the hood. Yes, F1 has race cars. Top Gun brought the roar of planes and motorcycles. Twisters — well, besides Mother Nature's fury — has a pickup truck. His upcoming Miami Vice? Probably boats. (His laugh after pointing that out indicated that's likely a yes.) But despite the heavy machinery that seems to follow him from film to film, Kosinski expressed that's not what makes a summer movie click. 'For me, it's more about the world,' he said. 'When I go to the movies, I want to disappear into this world created by the director and see it through their point of view, go on an adventure and come out the other side with maybe a new understanding or a new point of view about something I would have never known about.' Kosinki hopes he achieved that with F1. Give him two-and-half-hours of your time, and he'll take you on a ride. 'You don't need to know anything about racing to enjoy this film. You're going to learn what you need to, meet some incredible characters and get a sense of what it's like to do something only 20 people in the world get to do every weekend.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'FI' just won the box office. Meet the man who's cracked the blockbuster code.
He's the man behind your favorite summer blockbusters: Top Gun: Maverick, Twisters and now F1: The Movie. With heart-pounding action, A-list stars and a commitment to realistic spectacle, Joseph Kosinski has quietly become one of Hollywood's most reliable hitmakers. F1 zoomed into theaters this past weekend with an impressive $55.6 million domestic debut and a $144 million total haul, marking the biggest global opening of leading man Brad Pitt's career and the first commercial win for Apple Films. Kosinski doesn't just create summer blockbusters; he builds worlds at 200 miles per hour, and audiences can't get enough. But while horsepower is pivotal, the real fuel behind the films is heart, Kosinski revealed in a conversation ahead of his latest film's release. "I grew up in the '80s and '90s, going to the movies, and I think I'm trying to recreate that big screen experience that I had as a kid," he told Yahoo, praising directors Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. "Those are the experiences I remember seeing on the big screen," he said. "I approach [blockbusters] from the point of view of: what would I want to see if I went to the movies? Selfishly, what's a world that I want to dive into and live in for a few years? I got to create this incredible scenario where I have a Formula One team for two seasons and travel the world with Brad Pitt as my lead driver." F1 follows Sonny Hayes (Pitt), a retired driver coaxed back into racing by an old friend and former teammate (Javier Bardem) to help a struggling Formula One team. While driving for the fictional underdog APXGP, Hayes mentors young rising star Joshua Pearce, played by actor Damson Idris. The film is a blast: the racing scenes are thrilling, the settings are realistic and flashy and the actors' performances are great, with Pitt in the driver's seat, charming as ever. While F1 is action-packed, it feels both massive in scale and personal as you root for the characters. You don't need to know anything about Formula One to get pulled in. Positive word of mouth and good reviews should keep F1 holding strong at the box office over the holiday weekend, much like Kosinski's last two hits. It's no secret Hollywood loves a franchise, and we love watching them. Top Gun: Maverick was a sequel more than three decades in the making, while Twisters was a reboot. Both had built-in audiences. Those were career highlights for Kosinski, but in a landscape dominated by existing IP, he said it was freeing to develop F1 as an original story. "It's fun to be able to create a character from scratch, which we're able to do here, for an audience to meet all new people. There's no canon. There's no history we need to stick to. We get to start with a blank sheet of paper and take people on a ride learning about Sonny Hayes, APXGP and the world of Formula One," he said. Still, building something new from the ground up came with its own set of challenges. It wasn't casting a big name — "Brad said this was a movie that he had been looking for his whole career and was never able to find or put together" — it was convincing Formula One to let them shoot from inside the sport's most guarded spaces. "Formula One is a very tightly controlled, closed system. To be open to us not only making a film about them, but to make it from inside their organization and shooting at the races ... was a huge ask," he said. Authenticity is key to Kosinski's formula. In Top Gun: Maverick, U.S. Navy pilots flew the actors on top-of-the-line fighter jets. He needed similar access for F1 in order to get the same level of realism that audiences responded to in Maverick. "We were able to get inside and actually shoot at real races, shoot on the track and make all the people that are in the sport part of our film," he explained. That immersive approach didn't stop at the script or the setting; it also meant putting Pitt behind the wheel. "He was all in," Kosinski confirmed. "By the end of the film, we could not get him out of the car. He was having way too much fun." There's a pivotal moment shot at the Belgian Grand Prix, which features one of the sport's most dangerous corners. Pitt couldn't hide his excitement, which was a problem given the context of the scene. 'It's called Eau Rouge ... and every time Brad went through that corner, he had a big smile,' Kosinski recalled. 'I had to remind him over the radio that it was a tense scene, and please, do not smile as you go through it. He had a blast shooting this movie — and lucky for me, he was just a natural talent when it came to driving. That was something that you really can't teach. He kind of had that from the beginning, and that's how we were able to pull this all off.' Of course, no summer blockbuster is complete without a little heat, and in F1, that spark comes from the tension between Sonny and the team's technical director Kate McKenna, played by Kerry Condon. "I really wanted Kerry's character to be an integral part of the plot," Kosinski said. "Which is why she's the team technical director, right at the center of everything.' But Kosinski shared that it was crucial not to force a romantic storyline. "It's got to be integral to the story," he insisted. The dynamic between driver and engineer gave the director a natural way to build some chemistry. 'When a Formula One team is losing, the drivers tend to blame the car, and the engineers tend to blame the driver,' he continued. 'I thought that was a great place of tension to start a relationship from — and see how they work through their workplace differences to find a connection.' On the surface, it may seem like Kosinski's secret sauce is simple: movie stars, action and a splash of romance. But there's always something deeper under the hood. Yes, F1 has race cars. Top Gun brought the roar of planes and motorcycles. Twisters — well, besides Mother Nature's fury — has a pickup truck. His upcoming Miami Vice? Probably boats. (His laugh after pointing that out indicated that's likely a yes.) But despite the heavy machinery that seems to follow him from film to film, Kosinski expressed that's not what makes a summer movie click. 'For me, it's more about the world,' he said. 'When I go to the movies, I want to disappear into this world created by the director and see it through their point of view, go on an adventure and come out the other side with maybe a new understanding or a new point of view about something I would have never known about.' Kosinki hopes he achieved that with F1. Give him two-and-half-hours of your time, and he'll take you on a ride. 'You don't need to know anything about racing to enjoy this film. You're going to learn what you need to, meet some incredible characters and get a sense of what it's like to do something only 20 people in the world get to do every weekend.'
Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
REVIEW: Pitt crew helps ‘F1' succeed with flying colours
Published Jun 26, 2025 • 4 minute read Damson Idris and Brad Pitt in 'F1'. Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. There's no better time for a throwback than summer, and 'F1 the Movie' is here to send audiences to a blissful era before constant cape slop, when the movies were loud, their stars were hot and the male main-character energy was flowing with exhilarating abandon. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account From its opening scene – a credits montage featuring Brad Pitt, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' – 'F1' settles into a supremely confident, viscerally entertaining groove: an old-school, still-handsome movie star; sexy racecars; roaring crowds; vintage Zep; fireworks – 'F1' has it all, and that's just in the first 10 minutes. What follows in 'F1,' true to its title, may be formula. But it's one that works, even when the constant vrooms, tricky turns and explanatory dialogue threaten to become tediously repetitive. 'F1' is directed by Joseph Kosinski from a script by Ehren Kruger – the same team that brought us the irresistibly nostalgic 'Top Gun: Maverick' a few years ago. Kosinski and Kruger co-wrote 'F1's' story, in which Pitt's Sonny Hayes, who after a promising early career in Formula One racing has been busted down to driving one-off competitions for hire, returns to the circuit for one last chance at the championship. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's a plot as old as the horseless carriage, but in 'F1,' it's fuel-injected by an exceptionally appealing cast: Sure, we've all witnessed the old crime boss/close friend/comrade in arms asking the protagonist to come back for one last job. But when it's Javier Bardem doing the asking, with Pitt as his skeptical foil, even the hoariest scene in Final Draft's user manual becomes a playfully pleasurable seduction. Bardem plays Ruben, who was Sonny's teammate when a traumatic crash sent them in different directions: Ruben now owns a struggling team that needs to get points on the board, or else he'll be forced to sell. Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes and Kerry Condon as Kate in 'F1.' Photo by Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures / / Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture It's no surprise that Sonny comes home: in this case, to a sport that operates more like a family business than cutthroat competition. The motley, bracingly polyglot crew he joins includes technical director Kate (Kerry Condon); team principal Kasper (Kim Bodnia); a shark-eyed board member (Tobias Menzies); and a young, hotshot driver named Joshua Pearce, played with cocksure self-possession by Damson Idris. (Logos for real-life F1 sponsors Rolex, T-Mobile, Heineken and Tommy Hilfiger play themselves.) This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The intergenerational friction between Sonny and Joshua accounts for much of the narrative tension – and humor – in 'F1,' with Pitt and Idris milking every moment of aggression, overcompensation and unwelcome humility for maximum effect. But the joys of 'F1' can be found even in the smaller moments, especially those anchored by Joshua's mother, Bernadette, portrayed by Sarah Niles with a slyly observant mixture of maternal concern and no-nonsense directness. The supporting ensemble playing Ruben's team moves with the kind of balletic coordination that makes a high-end pit crew so mesmerizing to watch, and they have an easy command of the sport's jargon, which they spout at every opportunity to keep the audience oriented. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. If it's a foregone conclusion that Sonny and Kate's initial sparring will light a romantic spark, the resulting chemistry carries a vicarious zing. And it's quietly revelatory to behold: Not only does Condon make everything she's in better (her big breakout was her Oscar-nominated turn in 'The Banshees of Inisherin'). She's also something of a unicorn: an actress who presents as an unaugmented woman in her 40s, opposite one of the biggest male stars on the planet, flirting and sensuously teasing up a storm. The results – and let's hope Hollywood is paying attention – are spectacular. As for the male movie star in question, Pitt is entering his 60s with the kind of ease and self-awareness that give his performances a new dimension: There's a de rigueur shot in 'F1' of Sonny taking a knee and squinting pensively into the middle distance, but for the most part, Pitt's looks are played for can-you-believe-this-guy laughs. (The movie includes some amusing imaginary flashbacks of Sonny as a young showboater, all insolent sneers and bleached-blond mullet.) The grin he flashes throughout 'F1' suggests a man looking into the mirror and taking satisfied stock of himself, but also having great good fun with taking the mickey at every possible turn. The mood is larky, un-self-serious, and it's gratifyingly contagious. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in 'F1'. Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. As a car-race movie, 'F1' joins a pretty strong cinematic grid, most recently including 'Rush' and 'Ford v Ferrari'; the granddaddy of 'em all, the 1966 John Frankenheimer classic 'Grand Prix,' receives a respectful hat tip with an occasional split screen. The movie's aspirations to flawless authenticity – it was filmed at actual F1 events in England, Abu Dhabi, Mexico, Belgium, Las Vegas and beyond – should impress fans, who will appreciate the sport's combination of hardware, high-tech gadgetry, and sheer physical stamina and prowess. Squeezing a camera into the car with Pitt and Idris, cinematographer Claudio Miranda puts viewers into the driver's seat, with all its nerves and g-force gyrations; for the uninitiated, Kosinski keeps up a near-constant explanatory narration by way of announcers and Sonny's team members, who are always taking pains to make the engineering details, track challenges, physical dangers and personal stakes crystal clear. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Those expository passages can be tiresome, as can the lap after lap of race upon race. But 'F1' finishes with flying colours, mostly because it delivers so thoroughly on its promise as a big, noisy, piece of hyperkinetic escapism. Like its grizzled, still-golden hero – the inveterate loner who turns out to be the consummate team player – 'F1' obeys Hollywood's first law of physics, which is always to have it both ways, and to have it both ways a LOT. In any other movie, the second fireworks display might be considered one too many. Somehow, for this one, it's just right. – – – RATING: *** out of four Read More Canada Sunshine Girls Music Toronto Raptors Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Review: From bumper to bumper, 'F1' is Formula One spectacle
Published Jun 19, 2025 • 4 minute read Damson Idris and Brad Pitt in 'F1'. Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. The wide-screen spectacle of Formula One gets a gleaming, rip-roaring workout in Joseph Kosinski's 'F1,' a fine-tuned machine of a movie that, in its most riveting racing scenes, approaches a kind of high-speed splendor. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Kosinski, who last endeavored to put moviegoers in the seat of a fighter jet in 'Top Gun: Maverick,' has moved to the open cockpits of Formula One with much the same affection, if not outright need, for speed. A lot of the same team is back. Jerry Bruckheimer produces. Ehren Kruger, a co-writer on 'Maverick,' takes sole credit here. Hans Zimmer, a co-composer previously, supplies the thumping score. Brad Pitt stars in 'F1,' a new race-car drama heading to theatres this summer. Photo by Warner Bros../ Apple And, again, our central figure is an older, high-flying cowboy plucked down in an ultramodern, gas-guzzling conveyance to teach a younger generation about old-school ingenuity and, maybe, the enduring appeal of denim. But whereas Tom Cruise is a particularly forward-moving action star, Brad Pitt, who stars as the driving-addicted Sonny Hayes in 'F1,' has always been a more arrestingly poised presence. Think of the way he so calmly and half-interestedly faces off with Bruce Lee in Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.' In the opening scene of 'F1,' he's sleeping in a van with headphones on when someone rouses him. He splashes some water on his face and walks a few steps over to the Daytona oval, where he quickly enters his team's car, in the midst of a 24-hour race. Pitt goes from zero to 180 mph in a minute. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Sonny, a long-ago phenom who crashed out of Formula One decades earlier and has since been racing any vehicle, even a taxi, he can get behind the wheel of, is approached by an old friend, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) about joining his flagging F1 team, APX. Sonny turns him down at first but, of course, he joins and 'F1' is off to the races. The title sequence, exquisitely timed to the syncopated rhythms of Zimmer's score, is a blistering introduction. The hotshot rookie driver Noah Pearce (Damson Idris) is just running a practice lap, but Kosinski, his camera adeptly moving in and out of the cockpit, uses the moment to plunge us into the high-tech world of Formula One, where every inch of the car is connected to digital sensors monitored by a watchful team. Here, that includes technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) and Kaspar Molinski (Kim Bodnia), the team's chief. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Verisimilitude is of obvious importance to the filmmakers, who bathe this very Formula One-authorized film in all the sleek operations and globe-trotting spectacle of the sport. That Apple, which produced the film, would even go for such a high-priced summer movie about Formula One is a testament to the upswing in popularity of a sport once quite niche in America, and of the halo effects of both the Netflix series 'Formula 1: Drive to Survive' and the much-celebrated driver Lewis Hamilton, an executive producer on 'F1.' Whether 'F1' pleases diehards I'll leave to more ardent followers of the circuit. But what I can say definitively is that Claudio Miranda knows how to shoot it. The cinematographer, who has shot all of Kosinski's films as well as wonders like Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi,' brings Formula One to vivid, visceral life. When 'F1' heads to the big races, Miranda is always simultaneously capturing the zooming cars from the asphalt while backgrounding it with the sweeping spectacle of a course like the U.K.'s fabled Silverstone Circuit. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. OK, you might be thinking, so the racing is good; is there a story? There's what I'd call enough of one, though you might have to go to the photo finish to verify that. When Sonny shows up, and rapidly turns one practice vehicle into toast, it's clear that he's going to be an agent of chaos at APX, a low-ranking team that's in heavy debt and struggling to find a car that performs. This gives Pitt a fine opportunity to flash his charisma, playing Sonny as an obsessive who refuses any trophy and has no real interest in money, either. The flashier, media-ready Noah watches Sonny's arrival with skepticism, and two begin more as rivals than teammates. Idris is up to the mano-a-mano challenge, but he's limited by a role ultimately revolving around — and reducing to — a young Black man learning a lesson in work ethic. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in 'F1'. Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. A relationship does develop, but 'F1' struggles to get its characters out of the starting blocks, keeping them closer to the cliches they start out as. The actor who, more than anyone, keeps the momentum going is Condon, playing an aerodynamics specialist whose connection with Pitt's Sonny is immediate. Just as she did in between another pair of headstrong men in 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' Condon is a rush of naturalism. If there's something preventing 'F1' from hitting full speed, it's its insistence on having its characters constantly voice Sonny's motivations. The same holds true on the race course, where broadcast commentary narrates virtually every moment of the drama. That may be a necessity for a sport where the crucial strategies of hot tires and pit-stop timing aren't quite household concepts. But the best car race movies — from 'Grand Prix' to 'Senna' to 'Ferrari' — know when to rely on nothing but the roar of an engine. 'F1' steers predictably to the finish line, cribbing here and there from sports dramas before it. (Tobias Menzies plays a board member with uncertain corporate goals.) When 'F1' does, finally, quiet down, for one blissful moment, the movie, almost literally, soars. It's not quite enough to forget all the high-octane macho dramatics before it, but it's enough to glimpse another road 'F1' might have taken. RATING: Three stars out of four Read More News MMA NHL Editorial Cartoons Soccer
