AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The makers of "Top Gun: Maverick" tackle Formula One racing in the new movie "F1." There are fresh camera tricks designed to put you in the cars. Also, Brad Pitt is in the driver's seat. And critic Bob Mondello says there is definitely a formula.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: An old-timer they call a cowboy getting back in the saddle.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
KERRY CONDON: (As Kate McKenna) They're saying Sonny Hayes isn't a has-been. He's a never-was.
MONDELLO: A cocky young gun who thinks he knows it all.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
DAMSON IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce) I think it's really wonderful that APX is giving second chances to the elderly.
MONDELLO: And this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE ROARING)
MONDELLO: Lots and lots of this.
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MONDELLO: That's what you came for, and that's what you get, for just over 2 1/2 hours in "F1," delivered by folks who know how to make it pop and sizzle. Sonny's played by Brad Pitt - relaxed, laconic, iconic - happy to let team owner Javier Bardem badger him in the shower about coming back to Formula One racing after a near-fatal accident and three decades away.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
JAVIER BARDEM: (As Ruben Cervantes) Louis Chiron was 57 years old when he won the Monaco Grand Prix.
BRAD PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Who was who?
BARDEM: (As Ruben Cervantes) Philippe Etancelin - 56 years old.
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) You just Googled these names, didn't you?
MONDELLO: For sure the screenwriter did, and fudged a little. Louis Chiron was 55 when he became the oldest driver to compete in the Monaco Grand Prix. He didn't win it. But never mind. This is a fictional story.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
BARDEM: (As Ruben Cervantes) Some people look at Sonny Hayes, they see a guy who lives in a van, a gambling junkie who missed his shot.
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Wow, Ruben, you are really selling this.
BARDEM: (As Ruben Cervantes) But I see a guy who makes teams better. I see experience. I see know-how.
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes, laughing) You're off your meds.
BARDEM: (As Ruben Cervantes) My rookie's a phenomenal talent, but he's young. You, plus him - boom. I got a team.
MONDELLO: Sonny's non-committal, but he's soon sauntering onto a Formula One race track in a long shot, looking like the coolest guy ever to saunter toward the camera in a long shot. It's clear Pitt's got this. Also clear that rookie Joshua, played by Damson Idris, wasn't expecting him.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce) Why's he got a helmet?
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Safety.
BARDEM: (As Ruben Cervantes) Joshua, your seat is safe, OK? Sonny's here for the audition.
MONDELLO: The audition - now the sparring could start.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce) When was the last time you won a race.
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Sunday, Daytona.
IDRIS: (As Joshua Pearce) Oh, I'm sorry. I meant Formula One.
PITT: (As Sonny Hayes) Oh, I'm sorry. Then, same as you.
(LAUGHTER)
MONDELLO: And we're off to London, Monaco, Vegas, Abu Dhabi. Sonny wrecks a few cars. Actually, everybody wrecks a few cars. A whole tech team tries to figure out how to shave tenths of a second off race times. There's urgent chatter about warm tires, soft tires, big block letters saying things like Lap 14 - as if that matters. And the team's design expert played tartly by Kerry Condon is on hand to remind Sonny what's important.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
CONDON: (As Kate McKenna) When you look in the mirror, you see this rough-and-tumble old-school cowboy - doesn't take orders, goes his own way, a lone wolf. Well, I've news for you. Formula One is a team sport. It always was.
MONDELLO: Director Joseph Kosinski makes the races exciting enough that you'll likely forget on occasion that "F1's" plot shares significant DNA with the one for Pixar's "Cars." He's using a new immersive camera system that fits inside the racer's cockpit, and there's no question the racing sequences are entertaining. As is the banter, which makes it a point every once in a while to flatter the film star, even enlisting the rookie's mom.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "F1")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) That's the other driver? You said he was old. He not that old. That's a handsome man right there.
MONDELLO: Thought the filmmakers don't make a big deal of it, by the way, Joshua is one of two Black drivers in this fictionalized world, the other being Lewis Hamilton, who is Formula One's first and only Black driver in the real world. Hamilton plays himself briefly, and in a nod toward how a potential blockbuster might help diversify the sport he's devoted his life to, he exchanges a knowing look with Joshua before one race. The rest is mostly macho posturing, and lots and lots of this.
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MONDELLO: So buckle up.
I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE WILL ROCK YOU")
QUEEN: (Singing) We will, we will rock you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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