Dubbed "the greatest that never was", Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was FORMULA 1's most promising phenom of the 1990s until an accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, he's a nomadic racer for hire when he's approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling FORMULA 1 team that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to FORMULA 1 for one last shot at saving this team and being the best in the world. He'll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team's hotshot rookie intent on setting his own pace. But as the engines roar, Sonny's past catches up with him and he finds that in FORMULA 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition--and then the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.
Others to round out the cast are Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna, a race car designer, Tobias Menzies as Peter Banning, Sarah Niles as Bernadette Pearce, Joshua's mom, Samson Kayo as Cash, Kim Bodnia as Kaspar Smolinski, Will Merrick as Nickleby, Joseph Balderrama as Fazio, Callie Cooke as Jodie, Abdul Salis as Dodge and Simon Kunz as Don Cavendish.
This was directed with grit, excitement all at a grandiose pace by Joseph Kosinski ("Tron: Legacy" '10, "Oblivion" '13, "Only the Brave" '17, "Top Gun: Maverick" '22, "Spiderhead" '22) plus videos, music videos and a short. After his stint on the film "Top Gun: Maverick", I clearly had no doubt of this director's ability to direct this film. His sequencing, cohesiveness and his ability to keep a large production in check is amazing. Of course, the film is part based on his story, this was still helmed in such a way that the film was incredibly fluid. It was equally well penned by seasoned writer, Ehren Kruger ("Killed in the House" (TV movie) '98, "Arlington Road" '99, "New World Disorder" '99, "Scream 3" 2000, "Reindeer Games" 2000, "Impostor" '01, "The Ring" '02, "The Ring Two" '05, "The Skeleton Key" '05, "The Brothers Grimm" '05, "Blood and Chocolate" '07, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" '09, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" '14, "Tin Man" (TV movie) '14, "Ghost in the Shell" '17, "Dumbo" '19, "Top Gun: Maverick" '22) plus TV and videos, based on a story by Joseph Kosinski and Ehren Kruger. What makes this writer so prolific is that one cannot pigeon-hole him since his resume is as diverse as it is. The sequencing in this film was amazing and the the story simply fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle. It exceeded two and a half hours, and I didn't even feel it--it absolutely moved right along. As aforementioned, this was an underdog flick, replete with characters coming to grips with their issues and finding redemption through them, trials, success and much more. The cinematography by Claudio Miranda asc ("Life of Pi" '12, "Tomorrowland" '15, "Only the Brave" '17, "Top Gun: Maverick" '22) and others, was crisp and concise--certainly one professional Kosinski has used more than once.
What also made this film rock was that I also viewed it in the 4DX process--where the seats shake and there's wind synchronized together to give one quite the ride, and it was filmed in IMAX, although you can view it on a regular screen. This film rocked. It was the reason we go to see films in the theater so as to be entertained!!
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 156mins.