Joseph Kosinski directs Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem in this sports blockbuster where a Formula One driver comes out of retirement to mentor and team up with a younger driver.

Top Gun: Maverick meets Days Of Thunder. But also just Brad Pitt absolutely louching around in the perfect vehicle for him. This is the closest the A-List handsome goof gets to both serious drama and selling out. It is a true paradox, I know. I do find Kosinski’s visual style to be too clean. He dials back all details and the commercial minimalism often feels distracting. He loves exposition almost as much he adores a white, spotless interior. Give me a director like Tony Scott or Simon West who truly caused a visual ruckus within the Bruckheimer formula. That production pattern means F1 will be endlessly rewatchable (the summer pop soundtrack stoking our emotions, the roar of kinetic action, the light fingered humorous character work). You can even overlook how iffy some the third rung acting is. It puts you in the races. It makes you care about F1 for three hours. I didn’t before and don’t after. It has a scene where Kerry Condon walks out on Brad Pitt because he takes her somewhere where the pints are flat and lifeless. Imagine spending $200 million dollars on a movie and not keeping a head on a beer for continuity?

7

Perfect Double Bill: Heart Of The Beast (2026)

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