A Lap Worth Taking
My thoughts on F1.
Authored by: Jay Archambeau
I finally got around to seeing F1, and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I expected.
I'm not a die-hard Formula One fan, so I wasn't looking for a documentary or a perfectly accurate portrayal of the sport. I simply wanted to be entertained. On that front, the movie absolutely delivers.
The racing scenes are incredible. They don't just show the cars. They put you in them. There were several moments where I found myself leaning into the turns right along with the drivers. Seeing it in the theater definitely helped. The sound alone was worth the price of admission.
Brad Pitt plays exactly the kind of character you'd expect him to play: experienced, confident, and carrying a little baggage. It works. The chemistry between the characters felt believable, and I appreciated that the film spent time showing that Formula One isn't just about the driver. It's engineers, strategy, teamwork, personalities, and split-second decisions all working together.
The one place where I found myself genuinely torn was the ending. A part of me was really hoping Joshua Pearce would come away with the championship. Not because I dislike Sonny Hayes, but because it felt like Joshua had earned that moment. Maybe that ending would have been a little predictable or even cliché, but I still found myself rooting for him.
Given everything happening in our country right now, I found myself wishing Joshua had taken the title. Maybe that's because I think Black and Brown people could use a few more wins these days, even if it's only on the silver screen. That's probably more about me than the movie, but it's how I felt walking out of the theater.
Is the story predictable? Sure. You can probably see most of the major plot points coming long before they happen. But honestly, I don't think that's the point. This isn't a movie trying to reinvent the sports drama. It's trying to make you care about the people and then strap you into one of the fastest racing series in the world. It succeeds.
What impressed me most was the production itself. The cinematography is beautiful without calling attention to itself, and everything feels authentic. There wasn't much that pulled me out of the experience, which is becoming increasingly rare these days.
Now...can we talk about those last thirty seconds?
The movie spends over two hours reminding us that Sonny Hayes has a back held together with titanium, determination, and what feels like an unlimited prescription for ibuprofen. His chronic pain is practically a supporting character. Then, just when the credits are about to roll, we're supposed to believe he decides to go race the Baja 1000?
Seriously?
Formula One is one thing. The Baja is an endurance punishment where your spine takes an absolute beating for hours on end. After everything the movie established about his injuries, that ending felt completely disconnected from the character we'd spent two hours getting to know. I actually laughed, not because it was funny, but because it completely took me out of the story.
I'm still bitter about it.
Clearly.
Even with those criticisms, I had a great time. F1 isn't trying to be the greatest movie ever made, and it doesn't need to be. It's a well-made, exciting film with excellent performances, outstanding visuals, and enough heart to make the finish line worth crossing.
Walking out of the theater, I realized I wasn't thinking about the ending as much as I was thinking about the experience. The sounds. The speed. The teamwork. The respect for the engineering behind Formula One.
Maybe that's the point.
Great movies don't always leave you with perfect endings. Sometimes they leave you with conversations. And judging by how much I've complained about Sonny Hayes deciding to race the Baja 1000 with a back that's apparently held together by titanium bolts and wishful thinking, I'd say this one accomplished exactly that.
I'd still recommend seeing it.
Just don't ask me to defend those final thirty seconds.
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